First Word

In story books, one of the deepest bonds ever existed were of mothers and their darling babies. It was one of my dreams before I became a mother, to have my children love me unconditionally. And put me first.

I was sure that both my babies loved me unconditionally--that was, until they realized they had the ability to choose. Not to put me first.

Even before their belly button scabs fell off, I envisioned the day when they would finally converse with me. I dreamed of their first words spoken.

I expected their first word to be "mama".

Since I was the one who would risk losing my sanity--also known as no sleep--over their well-beings. I was the one who was willing to change their poop-filled filthy diapers (well, most of the time). I was the one who would forget to take a shower at the end of the day as a result of complete exhaustion. I was the one who would be shaking with hunger and tried to ignore this unpleasant physical yearning for food just to make sure they had food sitting in front of them first. I was the one who had to wake up in the middle of the night to provide warm hugs and cuddles while they went through a small phase called teething. I was their mother.

Is it too much to ask?

Abby's first word.