Mom Standard Time (MST)

It is 6.50 a.m., and our home is bustling with all the trappings of a typical school day morning. Both baths are occupied.

I am all over the house, trying to do many things at once.

I knock sharply on the door of one bath.

“What?” screams my son, over the sound of the shower water.

“7.20 a.m.”, I holler.

“Okay, okay”, says he!

I move to the next bathroom. I knock again.

“7.30 a.m.”, I announce.

My daughter says, “Ohh.. will be out in a minute.”

Strangely, my son seems to have heard the ‘time’ that I called out to my daughter.

And he shouts, “How could the time be 7.20 am for me and 7.30 am for akka (sister)?”

He calls out loudly to his sister that it’s not 7.30 a.m. yet and that I was lying!

I smile and move on.

Welcome to the world of a unique standard of time that Moms around the world follow – Mom Standard Time (MST).

MST is not time-based at all. It is based on a set of privileged rules that moms around the world have designed to get the best out of their children, to push them to give their best, and to generally show up where they are supposed to!

MST can help squeeze a mammoth school project into one evening! Mom Standard Time can also transform the boring hours when one is down with a cold or fever into something magical; a time when siblings are at school, and mom makes special soup and hugs you and shows you how much she cares!

Image courtesy – Geostat

MST has the prerogative to call you, whenever, wherever and impose time deadlines. The same MST allows you to sleep-in, and gets you that much needed shut eye on the weekend.

Mom Standard Time is based on love and the laws of parenting. It adheres to only one standard that every mom wants for her children – that they use their time wisely and become good humans!

Bubble of contention

The school day is over. Both kids are back home; each unwinding in his/her own way –  music and TV, evening snack, general banter and at times a detailed outpouring of something exciting that happened in their day.

After lazing about, my daughter gets down to school work, while my son comes back drenched in sweat, having played with his friends.

A wash later, he has joined his sister in their room. I am at my computer, working away.

My mom antennae suddenly perk up. I know that the tenor of voices from the children’s room has changed. They seem to be running in the room, and yelling.

In a few minutes the door opens and I find my daughter chasing my son, who seems to be hiding something under his arm.

 Investigation shows that the bone of contention is a piece of bubble wrap paper that had come with my daughter’s new calculator.

Courtesy – http://www.dreamstime.com

Both siblings want the bubble wrap to pop the bubbles. As with all sibling fights, their fight takes on various dimensions.

I intervene. I confiscate the bubble wrap, issuing orders for it to be left on my desk. 

The storm passes. Both of them head back to their room, glaring at each other.

I am alone now. I start popping the bubble wrap.  Perfect….

Truly one of life’s simple pleasures.