Joys of Motherhood
Although mostly a beautiful situation, motherhood may have many bitter-sweet moments that usually culminate into the joy one feels as a mother. Each chapter would look at a day in the lives of different mothers and how they experience some of these joys in their lives.
Chapter 1
Mina-the rural mum
She is out of bed before the crack of dawn and right away the images all of the day's tasks play out before her: set the fire, boil the water for bathing, sweep the compound, wake Riku without waking Toba, the ten-month old infant, prepare their breakfast, then get Toba and herself ready for the market.
"Baba, wake up," she taps the deeply snoring man, her husband, before waking Riku up to take his bath. She lifts up a tune she remembers as a child from tales told by her grandfather, under the baobab tree in her home which is several miles away. The memory draws her to say a prayer for her distant, but not-forgotten, loved ones.
After clearing the mud-coated hut which served as both the kitchen and dining hall, Mina sets up the table and stools, and lays out the bowls of thick, smooth corn porridge with the warm fried bean-cakes and fingers of sun-ripe bananas. "Baba! Riku!" She calls out, as she heads out, toward the adjacent hut to get Toba who would be stirring out of his sleep by now.
She gives herself a quick wash, whilst the infant looks on, playing with the small amount of warm water in the bath basin in which he is sitting. She finishes with him in no time, and gets them both dressed up, after waving quickly to Baba and Riku as they leave for the elementary school about a mile away- Baba as a teacher, and Riku as a second grader.
"Fresh tomatoes, peppers and onions! The largest this season! Come, see and buy!" Mina's day at the public market begins. She showcases the produce of her family farm which they all work on during the weekend, and on which she alone attends to on Tuesdays and Thursdays-the non-market days. Riku is strapped firmly behind her in swaddling cloth but is placed on his mother's laps for feeds and to be changed. On days when the weather is pleasant, and school is on closed for holidays, Mina allows the older kids other traders to take him along to play with the children.
At sun set, Mina wraps up the rest of her goods in the large, colorful raffia-woven basket, and sings happily to herself as she balances the mass on her head with the aid of a napkin. "Baba will be happy today. I made a good sale." She adjusts the swaddling cloth slightly to make sure a sleeping Riku is held firmly in place, and begins her journey home. She exchanges farewells with other traders, and smiles broadly , disregarding her aching feet and arms from the day's chores, and regular waving of her napkin to keep flies from the produce.
...The next chapters would describe a day in the lives of Sheila-the single mum, Terry-the transgender mum, Hannah-the stay-home mum and Sarah- the special-needs mum...