Happy Week – Day 2

With Mint away in the US, it has been a few weeks since I have moved in with my parents. I love living at home for obvious reasons. All my needs are looked after. I am well aware of the oversolicitous attention I get from my mom and dad and how much they pamper me. Yet, each time I feel amazed by the depth of their love and care.

It is no news that I share a room with my sister when I am home.  We dance to crazy songs at night, tire ourselves out and chat until we fall asleep. However, the past few days we’ve been a little agitated. The remote of the AC in our room stopped working. We can’t leave the AC on the whole night because we can’t afford to the room gets too cold in a few hours. When we turn it off, it gets too hot again in an hour or two. So we need to turn it on again. Come night, and the sister and I start negotiating. Who will keep waking up to operate the AC? Getting out of bed to turn the AC on or off is not fun. We keep passing on the chore to the other.

One morning, we woke up feeling harrowed. Mom asked us what the matter was. We told her neither of us had had a pleasant night. It was too hot without the AC and yet, we were too lazy to climb out of bed to turn it on. So we tolerated the heat and kept sighing and kicking out our summer quilts. We didn’t sleep too well. She sympathised and we moved on.

Last night, we slept with the AC on. The plan was for one of us to wake up and turn the AC off when the room got too cold. I hoped the sister would do it. The sister hoped I would do it. We fell asleep without really making a decision. In a few hours, I noticed the AC had been turned off. I mentally thanked my sister for doing it. When I stirred again a few hours later, I noticed the AC was on again and the room was perfectly cool. Great. Finally, when I was half awake at the crack of dawn, I saw a dark figure enter the room to turn off the AC. It was mom! I realised it was her who had been working our AC all along. Although I was half asleep and dazed, I was stunned by her actions.

On hearing that her children had had a rough night, my mother decided to take it upon herself to ensure we slept well. I couldn’t get over the fact that she woke up every 2 hours or so and walked to our room to turn the AC on and off for us. And the sis and I thought getting out of bed in the middle of the night itself was a herculean task.

I wonder how parents do it. I doubt I have the capacity to  love my child in the same way. My sleep is too precious to me. I don’t know if I will be a good enough parent. But for now, I know I am very fortunate for I have been the recipient of such unbridled love.