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I have written a lot about moms, empty nests, situations evoking motherly emotions , kids flying away etc etc…but some how in my blogs moms have always been the heroes of the plot. Though I use the term parents and say a lot of things considering us …both mothers and fathers, but the word dad hasn’t had its due share in my writings.
So today, I am dedicating this piece to DADS ……their feelings and their fatherly emotions. When our children are ready to embark on their individual journeys away from us readying to leave for college or work or after marriage …..everybody in the house who stays behind is affected. Moms seem to be most devastated because they have the privilege of having a rock in their husbands, a ever ready shoulder to cry on. We. mothers sometimes get so wrapped up in our own emotions that we forget to notice the parallel crisis our kids dad’s are going through.
Fathers have it tough too, it is never easy for them to send off the apples of their eyes, a part of their hearts away in the big bad world. But they handle it in their own beautiful way by keeping their spouses and their kids emotional needs first. They take charge of making the transition easier by joking and making each remaining day before the send off ….fun. They talk about good things instead of talking of how much they’ll miss their babies. Their logical heads accept quickly and I guess that same head keeps telling them how good this is going to be for their children. …to live independently ….to be their individual selves….taking their own decisions . They talk about the family getting a chance to travel more to drop them …to go meet them in their new worlds…to meet them halfway for a holiday away from their new homes and old. They don’t let their emotions interfere in working at making the arrangements for travel for send offs, bring back flight bookings, housing arrangements, financing decisions. Moms do these pretty well as well but honestly it is always I feel with more drama and loads of emotions running wild. Not that the children don’t need to hear the music of their mothers hearts …but they also need the practicality and “let’s move on and do better than wasting time on crying attitude” of their fathers. And that’s awesome because fathers are fathers. They have their eyes full of tears and hearts full of same anxieties.of their kids stepping out from their comfort zones…… but they don’t talk it out and rarely express their feelings. Children will always be tugging at their heartstrings too but they cope amazingly well ……by fast forwarding their minds to the holidays when kids would be back home …..and wire their minds to keep their good memories alive and look forward to making more with them.
Cheers to all the dads out there who are either sending off their children this fall and to all those who bid them goodbye earlier ….to either go to college or work or marry or live elsewhere.Our children will be living in our hearts permanently and though they came into this world through us …they are not ours to keep. And dads seem to know and accept this universal fact better than us Moms.
SAAKSHI SINGLA 