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Diary of a Working Mother

By Shaheen Anam
N'>W what is she really .Ke. the Bengali War king Mother? One th ng is certain — She is tired! She Is tense and she Is always guilty, always going around With the reeling that she is not doing enough for the family But she Is also loving and caring, looking after the needs of the family, however unreasonable and demanding, trying to accomplish so many things at the same time. She is also difficult to live with at times and ofcourse the family has to take the brunt of her anger when things are not going too well at the office or at home.
With more and more educated, modern women opting for a career, things are not what they used to be at the workplace or al home. Not only do these women want a good professional career, they also want a loving, considerate and supporting husband plus atlcast a pair of the most well behaved and intelligent children who need no persuasion to do their homcworkl Well unfortunately, things do not work out the way they are suppose to much to the disappointment of the working mother. She has to contend with first of all her own frustration at not being able to be the "Super Mom" that she so desperately wants to be, then the Inefficient secretary, the demanding boss, the well, unreasonable husband (not always), the moody teenager, the cranky 4-year old, the terrible cook the the list could go on for ever. You would ask then why does she do it? Why? Because she loves It, make no mistake about It, inspite of everything, she does manage to enjoy herself. She Is confident, she Is poised and she is ready to take on the world. There are ofcourse the rural working women in our society, who form the vast majority of working mothers, who are still very oppressed.
whose contribution to the family and society still remains unrecognized. But this column is only addressed to the modern, educated, urban Bengali women, who tn spite of all odds are trying to make it in a man's world
Readers response and feedback will be highly appreciated. Please send your comments. anecdotes, snippets
experiences, and help me make this column Interesting.
It has been a long hard day at the office, the boss has made me write a letter three times, the secretary has made the most atrocious mistakes, I am all ready to go home and steal a few minutes of sleep, but no not on your life, the four-year old has hurt her hand (by just jumping down three stacked pillows) and is screaming. Insisting that she has broken it. Rush to the clinic for an X-ray, the first clinic ofcourse ts closed because the machine is out of order, the second one kindly agrees to do me the favour of making the X-ray. but the report cannot be given tonight because the doctor has left. After much persuasion the X-
ray plate Is shmvn lo another because the picture ts not very clear By this time the three year old t» taking full advantage of the situation. She has sud denly forgotten to walk, go to the batheroom or even lie down She just feels good when mummy holds her. It Is now 8:30 at night, the Illustrious father has just walked tn. my back and arms are stiff from holding her for so long.
suddenly she forgets all about her pain, she jumps and runs straight into his arms. Abboo, why are you home so late?, I missed you so much, with the look that makes daddy's heart melt. I am just about to ask her What about your pain?, but am too relieved to know she Is alright. Well. I tell myself, this ts It. now for the delicious dinner that mother has cooked As we all sit down the cook announces unremorsefully If wc could mind having vegetables for dinner as the chicken roast was burnt while heating. More next weckl
The writer Is the programme officer with United Nations Capital Development Fund IUNCDF). She is a mar rtage councillor by training.