While He Sleeps...

Just a mum seizing brief moments while my son is napping or asleep for the night, and dedicating it to formulating thoughts and ideas and typing them into somehwhat coherent thought(s). I hope. 

[whilehesleeps]

Mummy's Night Out

If you're a Mum like a me, born a mother on the cusp of the Pandemic, you'll probably know what an incredible feat it is to get a night out alone. Sans bébé. Sans husband.

Well, several Fridays ago this Mum finally got to go out with two other mums for a fun night out to see a Broadway show-- Moulin Rouge!

Mummy didn't exactly paint the town red--but she did her lips!--jammed to some classic AND current pop songs, bopped her head, shimmied her shoulder, and sang along to the songs (underneath a mask, natch). It was the most wholesome, sober, mum-equivalent of a night out at a club or lounge (not to say Mums can't turn it up at a club or lounge!!). There was loud and fun music, bright and occasionally strobing lights, some glitter and confetti, and an overwhelming urge to get up and dance.

But oh, if you reader only knew the lengths we mothers had to go through to get there on time and see the show. I very nearly cancelled the night before (more on that later in a different post). Another mom almost missed her train by mere seconds--the next one arriving at exactly the same time the show would start. I practically tossed my keys to the garage valet and literally ran to the theater breathless, fearing the doors would close on me. Thankfully, I made it to my seat with minutes to spare.

I'll spare you the details of the show as I disapprove of spoilers (and also if you haven't seen the 2001 film by Baz Luhrmann, then please go see it already). But to sum it all up: Baz Luhrmann walked so this show could RUN.

Needless to say, considering I'm writing a whole post about it, I had an amazing time--the show, the feeling of pseudo-freedom, the chance to dress up, the feeling of being with like-minded folks (fellow mums and musical lovers, as well as audience members with the same appreciation for this show and Broadway). And really, just the chance to be able to go out and see a Broadway show without fear (Fully Vaxxed, Boostered + Masked the entire time)--a first, since my last Broadway show was in January 2020, over 2 years ago, Pre-Pandemic, when I went to see Frozen while 8mos pregnant (without masks! Can you believe it?)--was truly exhilarating. One of the mums shed a tear next to me because she loved it so much. I've seen many a Broadway show in my lifetime, and this is one of many I truly enjoyed.

The best part was that it was all guilt-free. Mummy not only had Dada's blessing. Mummy also spent majority of her days off prior, recuperating from illness (again, more on that blog post later), and the rest, planning her offspring's themed birthday luncheon (one at home and one at school)--both the day of, and before the Night Out--and so this night out was very much well-spent and well-deserved. Le Mari also had a very nice evening at home, playing video games uninterrupted, ordering take-out. Overall, it was win-win for everyone. Mummy came home invigorated, refreshed, inspired, cup-full. And let's face it, if you're a mum like me, you know when your cup is full, you have more to share with everyone. The next day the whole family had a dance party during breakfast while Mummy shamelessly tried to sing and dance to Lady Marmalade on Spotify.

Would like to emphasize though that while all three Mothers rushed to the theater and basked in the offspring-free Night Out...all three of us also simultaneously whipped out our phones as soon as Intermission started to check on the Baby Monitors and text the spouses. That is to say that while we all craved and needed that break from home and Motherhood, good 'ol Mother Instinct kicked in and prevailed.

Friendly reminder to all who need reminding: Just because you need a break or crave time away from your kids and family, doesn't mean you love them any less. And no, it absolutely does NOT make you a bad mother/parent at all. It just makes you normal and human.

Here's to having more spontaneous child-free, husband-free nights out with fellow-Mums.

[whilehesleeps]

Grateful.

Dear Reader,

If you're reading this and you're in America, or are familiar with the country's traditions you'll know Thanksgiving Day just passed.

Unpopular Opinion but my family doesn't exactly celebrate Thanksgiving. We had different Thanksgiving traditions back in the day when I grew up as a Zero-th generation American Immigrant, which I will elaborate some other time, but we at least ate turkey (AND LOTS OF STUFFING AND FOODS) every Thanksgiving and I'll at least say one of our traditions was hitting up Black Friday afterwards. Abhorrently consumerist and materialistic, I know. Feel free to judge. I'm a woman and a Mother, I'm judged everyday, I'm used to it. (No, but be nice please?) Just know THE best deal buy I ever got was a cute bluegreen $10 toaster that I woke up ridiculously early for and paid for with my own monies. That said, I am pleased to say that while a myriad of changes have occurred in the world since (*cough*Pandemic*cough*masks*cough*), one of the good things to happen was that they actually closed stores on Thanksgiving Day this year.

While we may not have celebrated Thanksgiving in the way other Americans or Immigrants did, we celebrated Thanksgiving in the sense that we were incredibly and acutely grateful for many things and blessings. If not the whole year, then we were made aware of it particularly on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas. And I think that's what people forget on this particular holiday. It's a holiday most often associated with Turkey, a ton of food, perhaps gluttony, perhaps travel for some, football for others, perhaps the parade, perhaps a sad time for some others as well--especially those who find it difficult to celebrate the holiday apart from family--or perhaps with their family. Whatever it is, I hope people remember Gratitude and Thanks at least on this day every year.

My parents always worked on Thanksgiving, so I didn't particularly mind working every Thanksgiving as an adult, so long as I was fed some Thanksgiving-like food. This year was strange as my own little family went without Thanksgiving-like food--but who am I to complain? I had food on the table, and that should be enough to be grateful for. (Also to note, the very unThanksgiving-like food was lobster tails with side of mushroom risotto, couscous, and Moules Marinieres, all prepared and cooked by my husband, so again, yeah... can't complain).

Another of my family traditions growing up, which wasn't kept as well as the Black Friday shopping, unfortunately, was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV with my grandmother. Even for just a few minutes together, we'd watch the pomp and pageantry, but hardly ever the entire thing. That said, if you're into the whole Thanksgiving holiday like most of America, you'll know the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is kind of a huge deal. Especially for New Yorkers. I never dreamt of watching it live and in person (no thank you, I don't like waking up early and standing out in the cold; JK Black Friday was exactly that), but I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have done so this year for my son. He's too young to appreciate it fully, but the chance to hear him excitedly yell out "balloons!" "star!" and say "wow" in wonder, and point from afar and press his little hands through a 17th story window of a stranger's house was enough for me. Maybe as you're reading this you'll realize I am the Grinch equivalent for Thanksgiving Day; but do know that as that little boy's hands made smears on my mother-in-law's friend's apartment windows, and as he excitedly exclaimed random words only a year and half (and then some) toddler would do when alongside much older kids--this Mother Blogger's cold, Thanksgiving Grinch heart grew even larger than she expected.

Spoiler Alert: Motherhood does that. At any given moment your offspring will do something completely ordinary and mundane, and your heart grows three times its size each time. Three times...That's a lot of love and gratitude. <3

Until the next post.

Yours Truly,

(A Very Grateful) Mother Blogger

[whilehesleeps]

Intro

Dear Reader,

If you're reading this then perhaps you've stumbled upon this random Blog created by a mum who only writes when her son is asleep. Who, at the time of the conception of this blog was actually privileged enough (Read: #Blessed) with one extremely long nap time (Read: 3HRS!!) that afforded enough time to actually sit down and write a blog post.

But alas, writer's block is a thing and there was actually nothing worth writing about (Quite frankly there was, but the very lengthy, first-blog post was sadly and stupidly erased because this writer is no longer familiar with the functions of Tumblr *facepalm*). And then it was followed with a bout of a small thing called Sleep Regression, and probably a case of the very early Terrible Twos, wherein the said sleeping child was taking $%*# naps or refusing them altogether. Yet here we are, approximately 3-4months later, finally with the courage and a moment's time at work--thank you Night Shift, and a quiet one at that!--to finally string some words together and hope they're somewhat coherent.

I initially came up this Blog as a way to not only manage my time effectively (insert haughty laugh here, because that concept is actually quite foreign to me), but to also ensure that this blog, much like my love for social media, not come in the way of more important things like perhaps attending to my otherwise awake-child's needs. Because dear Reader, if you're a mother like me, you know they have many needs, chief of which is your unwavering attention. I also thought that writing while he was napping or down for the night was a clever way for me to hold myself more accountable to doing much more productive things in the time that he's asleep. A.k.a writing. Which I honestly haven't done in years.

So please, if you've stumbled upon this space, and gotten this far into reading, thank you. And stay tuned.

Yours Truly,

Mother Blogger