Now the kids are waiting for lunch at home. Melek has full motivation for cooking the most beautiful and healthiest dishes. The reason for her leaving them at home and running to the grocery store is to buy the missing materials. She does not want them to eat simple food; it has become her passion to give their little body the healthiest. Every morning on TV, she watches the channels and listens to the doctors about what to eat, what not to eat, how to consume complement foods, what to stay away from in a certain season; she keeps all of them in mind. The statements of some doctors contradict the words of others but she finds her way and she does what she feels comfortable with and she does do the contrary. For example, children at noon today eat noodles, but not any noodles, a special noodle made from einkorn wheat. On top of it, she puts minced meat she bought from the butcher, whom she trusts a lot, the sauce she made with a special tomato paste she ordered, and the yogurt she fermented at home; she also makes a salad for them. That is all: complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, minerals … And of course, mother’s love…
While thinking about these, she forgets the weight of the bags, she smiles.
The boy is the oldest, eight years old. Then their five and two-year-old daughters come. She had not planned to have three children, but since this was her fortune, she now wants to be able to profess motherhood, which is her new profession, in the best way. She surfs in social media groups, follows the best products, the best foods, the best children’s psychology books, and watches online seminars. She also has friends but most of them move more comfortably as they have one child and go to shopping malls and restaurants with a children’s playground for breakfast. Melek has breakfasts at home with her three beautiful children and she goes shopping with her husband in his rare spare time. She buys whatever she can as soon as she can restrain the children, then returns to the car as if she is beaten, and asks to return home as soon as possible.
She finds the solution of socialization by inviting her friends to her home frequently. The safest house for children is already hers. The huge living room is almost unfurnished. There is a small ball pool in the middle, a playground for the little ones, and dozens of toys in the baskets… When her friends arrive, the children spread over this large area, they play with each other for a long time, and the mothers can breathe and chat a little. Though in those days, Melek keeps going to the kitchen and usually cannot finish her words but that is ok for her. Still, she feels better at the end of the day. Moreover, when she compares with her friends who complain about many things, she realizes how strong she is. How hard can life be with a single child? She takes care of three children, whose needs are completely different, even though their age is close, never neglects the cleanliness of the house, treats her beloved husband well, and tries to take care of herself as much as she can, but still does not complain as much as they do.
When she comes in front of the apartment, she leaves the bags on the floor, stretches her back, opens and closes her fingers, and waits to feel her hands again. She opens the door of the building with the key which she holds in her pocket for easy access, blocks one foot in front of the door, and puts her bruised palms back into the bags. They live at the high entrance, leaving nothing risky at home, but still feels the restlessness of leaving three children at home. How many times had she seen and condemned in the news the families of the children who were left alone at home, fell from the window or died in the fire … God bless! She went shopping and came back very soon and also the boy is eight now; old enough to stay with his siblings. Did she have a choice? Would it be better if the children starving?
She leaves the bags once more at the door of the apartment. She unlocks the top lock of the door, then the bottom; she thinks she turned the key many times while locking. Three children, who hear the door open, rush to the door. They turn around her saying “What did you get mom, what did you get for us, what did you bring?”. The rule is certain, there is no junk food, but sometimes there are small escapades. Today is also a day of escapade because it’s Saturday and she bought a handful of chocolate for each of the kids. The kids don’t allow her to take off her coat and shoes. Bent double, she searches for a while to find those three small pieces of chocolate in the bags. She finally reaches three chocolate packs with a picture of a tiny bear on them, leaving each one to the tiny palms one by one. The boy is not moving as the girls close their palms and run to the living room. Unexpectedly, he says “Did you get it again, the tiny thing? Eat it yourself.”
Melek does what she has never done and hoped not to do. Her hand rises through him, covered with anger, which she has not noticed and has not understood where it came from, hits her son on his left cheek, which is chubby, still baby, and still perfect. Then she said in a voice that did not belong to her, “What can I do more?” and she begins to roar. The girls are running and coming over again. Their elder brother is standing still, and their mother is making strange noises on the bags she brought from the grocery store a while ago.
Melek does never tell anyone about what she experiences that day and the correspondence and photos she saw on her husband’s cell phone, which she had checked with a sudden intuition the night before.
She apologizes to her son, promises nothing as it will happen again, and tells that she is very tired. She assumes that the girls will forget anyway.
After preparing lunch, she lays a picnic cloth in the middle of the living room, places the plates, cups, spoons, colorful napkins… The floor pillows are carefully laid around the blanket. There, she draws the boundaries of a happy home, the limits she has never been able to draw in her life until today… It is also free to watch something while eating on Saturday. She turns on the television with the children, forgets the whole world, or assumes that she forgets, spoons her noodle, and watches cartoons.
Dear reader,
How did this story make you feel? What do you think about Melek? What would you do if you were Melek? I would love to see your ideas in the comments section. Thank you in advance.
Yaprak
what do you think?