Who are you?

I didn’t get it at first. I was cleaning my daughter’s nose with saline solution. My son came, gazed intently at his sister and mumbled, ” Who are you? ” I was too busy trying to do what I was doing without further traumatizing a wailing child. After I was done, my son came and put a hand on my shoulder and asked again, ” Who are you? ”

I laughed out loud. ” You don’t know who I am. ” I’m your Mama right ? ” He shook his head and persisted with the question, further elaborating, ” Who are you? Are you a Doctor ? ” Ah ! Cleaning his sister’s nose giving her much needed relief during her cold and fever made him wonder. I ofcourse found it amusing and affirmed. ” Yeah, I’m doctor. I help you also when you get boo boo. ” He smiled and said, ” You are a good doctor. ”

Next time the question arose when I was trying to teach him the written letter. ” Who are you? Are you a teacher? ” And so on it went.

Random comment would pass while I was doing generic stuff.

” Who are you? Are you a pilot ? ” , when I drove the car.

” Who are you? Are you a helper ? ” , when I helped him tie his shoes.

” Who are you? Are you a worker ? “, when I’m finding something on the laptop.

Well, you get the idea. I’m sure everyone has seen that Facebook post where it says, ‘ I’m a Mom. I do everything 24 by 7’. But ofcourse my son doesn’t know how to read yet but he recognizes the simple fact that as a mom I play many roles at the same time. Not to mention the amount of managing I have to do keeping up with chores, food, appointments, social commitments while at the same time herding around a family of four to wherever we need to be at the exact time we need to be. Not to mention being there for everyone as much as I can emotionally and physically.

Isn’t it ironic that a child who is 3.5 can see this but not adults who say a stay at home doesn’t work or that she has no experience when she goes back into the job market ?