What it means to have a child

My friend Stacy who is single and has no child, always made me miss my freedom days. Stacy constantly reminded me how I had no life and everything revolved around baby Tasha and my hubby.

Unlike me, she had all the time in the world to go for exotic holidays, attend chama meetings and nights out with the girls, go for an impromptu safari in Naivasha, and simply spoil herself silly weekend after weekend.

Her only worry was whether her manicure was chipped and needed to be redone, or whether her impeccable haircut needed a salon touch up.  Those were basically the issues that gave her sleepless nights. I remember one day  when she met me at the groceries with Tasha and she made some snide comments.

“Kwani you have no life everything revolves around your baby. Can’t you get some time with your girlfriends?”

“I wish I could,” I said apologetically.

I mean with my crazy job I barely have time for Tasha, so how can I even squeeze in time for my girls. Whatever free time I have, I always dedicate it to mummy and daughter time.

Thank God most of my girlfriends who are also career moms understand this. But Stacy did not understand how a child can take up a career woman’s life, to the point that mummy has no time for engagements like chamas.

Karma at play

Well karma is always at play.

It’s been a while since I saw Stacy. So recently I was at a supermarket when I spotted some disheveled woman trying to spank a one-year-old who was throwing serious tantrums.

Out of curiosity, I moved closer to the crime scene.

The woman was shouting and her temper was out of control. It’s like she forgot she was the parent.

You can imagine my shock when I realised it was Stacy. She was totally the opposite of her usual well-kept self. Clearly the baby had taken over her life and she was clearly overwhelmed. Being a veteran mommy, I took charge of the situation and calmed both mother and child down. I walked her to the coffee area to catch up on old times. And while we were having our snacks, she made a brutal confession, “Now I know what it means to have a child.”

Photo credit: energystar.gov