Please look after mom is so ironic, because moms usually look after their children, and not the other way around. I picked up this book when I saw the author’s name, because I might have seen a lot of Kdramas the past years but I’ve never read a book written by a Korean author. Plus, I’ve long ago learned that reading books by authors coming from different parts of the world meant an introduction to different cultures and culture-based principles and norms and that fascinates me. Although, Please Look After Mom is more than just that, for this is a story that each one of us could relate to, regardless of where we came from and regardless of the norms we’re accustomed to. It talks about the joy, the pain, and the mysteries of being a mom, and how we, as children sometimes and maybe completely forget that Mom can’t just be Mom.
Our moms could have been someone (or something) else, had they not been our moms. There’s no better profession in this world than being a housemaker–I’ve read this somewhere and this must be true on so many levels. I’ve witnessed all the sacrifices my own mom did for our family, and never did I once asked her if she really wanted to do all of those or maybe she just wasn’t left with no other choice. Our moms could have chosen to runaway, or maybe to live another kind of life, but they chose to be our moms because for them, there’s just no better place to be.
Our moms love us equally, despite our order in the family. Parents give different kinds of love and attention to their children. Have you ever noticed that the eldest child usually get the best of everything? Maybe not most of the time, but parents seem to have special eyes for their eldest child. And this is because the eldest children have the huge responsibility to support the family in time. They must be dignified, because their younger siblings would look up to them. And this is true, at least in the eastern culture. There are children who’re given more freedom because parents trust that they can be on their own, and there are children who are too pampered because they appear more fragile than the others. Must be hard to figure out what kind of love to give, but moms know best. Always.
There certainly are lots of things we didn’t know about moms. We didn’t know the pain they endured when they brought us to this world. We didn’t know how much and what kind of pain they endured when we were too young to have caught an illness and we could’ve died. We have no idea how much they wanted that last piece of cake they allowed us to eat because we were wailing and screaming after we consumed everything. We never saw the tears of pride they shed when we finally graduated with (or without) flying colors. We didn’t have any clue on how much they cried on their knees, praying we’d make it while we battle different woes in life. We didn’t realize how much they are so proud and happy for us, now that we are doing very well in life.
Maybe you’ve read this book, and maybe it triggered you to ask yourself what sacrifices did your mom make so you’d become the person you are today. Now that you’re all grown up and perhaps you’ve seen most of what the world has to offer, it’s your turn now to please look after mom.
xo