Have you ever had that feeling as if someone is watching you? Well, I do and it’s not that eerie kind of feeling 🙂 I know for a fact that Coby, our eldest child, is watching over me, literally.
You see, we don’t have a helper in our home so I do most of the chores especially when my husband is at work and I start the day at 4:30 A.M. and turn in at around 8 P.M. Before the kids wake up in the morning, I make sure that at least 90 percent of my morning chores are done, which includes doing the laundry, dishes, cleaning the living and dining areas, and hopefully I have taken my morning shower. As soon as the kids run down to have breakfast, I have to attend to them. After a few minutes of chatting with them, I run upstairs and tidy up the rooms there. A few minutes later, they will then have their baths and we will start school.
There may be times when I will be asking Coby to work on his own while I prepare lunch. My mornings are really, really busy! But the load gets lighter after lunch and Coby completes one or two more subjects then he is free. We are both free 🙂 That’s the time I check my email, get updates on FB, read blogs, post blogs or just simply surf the internet.
I hope he was satisfied with my reply. Then he asked me again, “Do you need some help with that? I can help you.” I was so touched that I tried to make him help. He probably felt I was tired, which is the truth but I’m still fine.
Then, my afternoon routine would soon commence. I would prepare the lessons for the next day. Fold the clean clothes then prepare dinner, if dinner has to be prepared unless I still have leftover food from lunch. Doing all these things is no chore to me really, I actually enjoy doing them. Unfortunately, I am not Supergirl . I do get tired and at times lazy too to clean up. To say that I regret being a homemaker is a false statement. I love “making a home” for my family even if it’s exhausting and stressful.
One afternoon, while I was busy doing something Coby approached me and said,”Mama, something tells me that you don’t like what you’re doing.” I was surprised by his comment so I asked what made him say that. “Because you’re not smiling when you’re doing the chores. It looks like you’re angry,” he blurted out. Bothered by what he noticed I reassured him, “I’m not angry while I’m doing chores, anak. I’m just too focused what I am doing. Don’t think I don’t like what I’m doing. I love it but my face is just really serious when I’m working.”
Still not satisfied with my answer he asked,”Are you sure? Because you really look angry?” I put down whatever I was holding and looked him in the eye, “I’m okay Coby. I’m happy, just seriously working. Remember when we are working, we have to focus on what we are doing so we can do a great job, right? That’s what I’m doing!”
I hope he was satisfied with my reply. Then he asked me again, “Do you need some help with that? I can help you.” I was so touched that I tried to make him help. He probably felt I was tired, which is the truth but I’m still fine.Other times, I would do the laundry right after dinner. While they are all resting and watching TV upstairs, Coby would go down and check on me. He would ask me why I’m doing laundry when it’s time to rest. I would give him my reason and he would say, “It’s late, Mama. It’s time to rest.”
Ever since that time, I would hear him going down the stairs and stop at the landing. He would hold on to the railings and watch what I’m doing. Sometimes he would ask if I needed help but most of the time he would just be sitting there and watching me. He would do this everyday.
Two days ago while I was preparing dinner, I heard the same footsteps again. I knew he was watching me, so without looking at him I reassured him, “I’m okay Coby. I’m just preparing dinner. You can go play now. It’s okay.”
After hearing that, he ran upstairs and I heard him turn on the TV.
In the beginning, this routine of his would annoy me, because I don’t like the feeling of somebody watching over me. But then I realized, Coby is just loving me. He speaks his love language through acts of service. He wants to help Mama any little way he can.