SHM for a Day

The upside of Laila being sick is that I get to stay home with her. I hope that I could stay home with her for less worrying reasons, but when life gives you lemons...

So I stayed home yesterday. And of course that means speacial Mommy Cat and Baby Cat time. We had lunch with Daddy Cat and did a little shopping afterwards. We went home and took a long nap. After that we watched some TV and played.

It was raining outside and it was the perfect weather to stay home and goof around. Laila was sick but otherwise she was her normal self. Active, friendly, easy to laugh and witty.

She saw the big photograph of buddhist monks in their burgundy robes marching in a street in Yangon. She asked what the pictue was about. I told her they are monks from Myanmar. And of course she couldn't understand what I was explaning. She looked me in the eye as if to make sure she heard me correctly.

'Monk? Monkey? Marimar?' she asked. And I couldn't help but chuckle. I tried explaining some more about the monks and Myanmar, but then gave up. She seemed pretty content about monkey and Marimar anyway. I can live with that.

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These prolonged daily interactions are what I miss because I work outside the home. But I know I have to work because otherwise we wouldn't be as comfortable as we are. It's a tough trade-off but almost a no-brainer.

I'd like to think sometimes that helping the family finances is the primary reason why I work. But it isn't.

I want Laila to grow up knowing that girls can be whatever they want and do not have to fit into a predefined role designated by society. And I think I can only truly teach her that if I continue doing what I've always wanted to do--be a journalist.

I can take on a less demanding job, but that wouldn't be where my passion lies. And I'd like to teach Laila to follow her own (healthy) passions. My girl will be the person she wants to be. I'll work on that.