Just another day as a mom - humourous speech contest 2022

Raariraroo oraariro.....(Tamil song)

This is the lullaby I sing for my 5 year old to put her to sleep.

Evolution of my voice:

When I was in 4th standard, my music teacher told me that I have a thin and soft voice. Little did I know that after 30 years my voice was going to become loud and boisterous.

Are you puzzled? Let me introduce myself as a mom of 2 daughters, a 11 year old and a 5 year old. Contest master Toastmasters and my dear friends, welcome to the world of parenting. For the next 5 mins you are going to listen to a typical mom's banter.

Let us say..I am in the kitchen and I have to call my elder one, expecting a response from her, this is the normal volume I can use.

TANUSHRIIIIII

I am not blaming my daughter for that. If there is one person I can blame it is none other than j.k Rowling. My kid has completed reading the 7 books around 100 times. But when she is reading she enters into Hogwarts. If you are a Potter head you will understand what I mean.

But still I have no clue why kids read the same book again n again when it comes to Harry Potter or Wimpy Kid or Dork Diaries. The story doesn't change anyway.

Perhaps we live in different worlds. They are gen z s and we are millennials.

Eating habits:

If this is the story of my elder one,my younger one is even sweeter. She has a few extraordinary super powers. She can have half spoon of rice in her mouth for 1 hour without chewing. On an average, she takes 2 hours per meal. My software engineering brain immediately calculates the hours spent and it is 6 hours per day, 180 hours per month, 2190 hours per year and that is only for feeding the 3 main meals for a kid.

Being a Referee

Apart from being a software engineer and a mom, I can proudly say that I am a part time referee.

Referree??? Let me demonstrate.

Scene1:

Younger one: "Amma this is my pretend phone. Let's take a selfie, let's watch cartoons, let's take a video."

Elder one: "Amma my paint box is missing. Did you see it somewhere?"

Me: "Hey it is this one right?"

Younger one: "But ma..it is my pretend phone".

Me: "Why do you keep taking your sister's things. Go give it to her."

Younger one: (Crying) "Even on a birthday I end up getting scoldings"

Me: "Madam today is my birthday. Not yours"

Scene 2:

Elder:"Amma she is throwing the pillow on me."

Me:"Why did you throw the pillow on her?"

Youger: "Amma she threw it first."

Me: "Why did you throw the pillow first?"

Elder:"Because she took away my pencil."

Me:" Why did you take away her pencil?"

Younger:"Amma I lost mine".

Me: " Why did you loose your pencil? You should keep your things safely. Red card for you!!! Go to your room". Younger: " I am the one to get the red card always. No one in this house likes me."

Me: No da chellam (sweety). You are a sweet heart.

Elder: What???? Seriously???

There are days when I run away to the restroom to escape from this referree role. But most of the time I have to come out after hearing the heavy knocks to prevent my neighbours from raising a complaint. I would rather be a referee than a convict. :)

Being a mom

As a mom I step on the Lego pieces atleast 100 times a day and my diet mostly consists of the food wasted by my kids. I am used to waking up with my little one's foot on my face. As a student I was too cool to be scared of exams but now the thought of tamil and Hindi exams brings chills down my spine.

But Still..

Having shared these experiences I would like to take you to 2009. After a miscarriage I had sleepless nights and nights filled with nightmares. This thought was haunting me.."What if I end up not becoming a mother at all in my life?" Do you see the contrast life brings us?

Life is full of challenges and surprises and it is all about the experiences gained during the journey. Each phase of life has its own challenges. Isn't it?

In the end as parents we are mere mentors and nothing more or less to guide them until they grow up and become adults. I always remind myself that it is unfair to rule their world and make all the decisions for them. After all they are going be with us only for 20 years, a very small portion of our life. I would happily watch them fly away from my nest after a few years and build their own. All I would have left with me, would be the memories to cherish during my old-age.

The great writer Kannadasan once said, "If there's God, it can be nothing other the experiences we gain in our life."