One of the nights in Damai, we went out for dinner with my hubby’s colleague who is originally from Sarawak. She brought along her parents. I assume kakak P is in her 40s because her eldest son is already in the university, and she’s the 6th out of 11th siblings (OMG!). So I think her parents should be at least in their 70s.

I didn’t have lunch that day because I had a heavy (complimentary) breakfast at the hotel and it was too expensive to have lunch in the hotel every day. By the time it’s 6 pm, I was already so hungry that I could eat a whale. But when the dinner was set on the table, I let hubby ate first while I take care of Arissa. Arissa can only sit still in the baby chair for 10 mins max. After that, she would demand us to take her out from the chair so she could roam around the restaurant. I let her do so because to me, she’s learning from her surrounding and I don’t want to stop that.

So that night, while hubby enjoyed her dinner happily, chit chatting with kakak P, and mommy trying to keep up with Arissa’s curiority (bukak can drinks fridge, nak naik buai, nak main straw), suddenly the atok said, “ini lah dia… kasih ibu bagai secupak bijan. kasih bapa bagai segantang keledek”

His Sarawak accent was so pekat that kakak P had to translate it to us. But she has never heard of those ‘kata pepatah’ too. So we asked the atok to deliberate….

He said he was observing us, me and hubby, and the lil toddler. Hubby makan sedap2, while mommy struggling with Arissa. When he said kasih ibu bagai secupak bijan, it means… mommy’s love is so much. Too much that you can’t even quatify it. Can you count a can full sesame seed? I don’t think we can… so that’s how much mommies love their kids, that they are willing to attend to their sons and daughters first even though they are hungry. And kasih ayah bagai segantang keledek is simple, although it is a bucket full of sweet patato, we can still count it right? I think you know what the atok is trying to say about fathers :)

After we heard the explaination, I feel like hugging the atok because I feel so appreciated by him. Haha! Hubby looked dumbstruck and tak puas hati because he loves Arissa so much too. I know he loves her dearly too… but I think he has to accept that he can’t beat mommy! Haha :p

I am so proud to be a mom, and I love watching other mommies around me too. I know what they’ve gone through from the moment the test sticks showed two pink lines, the 9 months of waiting and carrying the baby, the exhausting labor hours… even days and months after that, we still have so much energy and love for our kids.

Mommies, I love you! :)

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