A Different Mum..

A Mum between Love and Obsession

Since the day Rena gave birth, her life turned into a subtle dance between worry and love. It wasn't mere care — it was a puzzle, one that occupied her days and nights with relentless alertness.

Her world was her son, Leo. Rena watched him closely, his eyes wide with vigilance, observing for any flicker of discomfort or pain. When Leo caught a cold, Rena did not simply treat the symptoms; she became a detective, rummaging around for the reason with meticulous attention to detail. Was it the cold air near the window? The slightly damp blanket? The pollen from the blooms outside that were in flower?Was it any cold food served ?

Rena”s obsession started secretly but unstoppably. It started with small rituals: preparing Leo meals with painstaking precision, washing each vegetable, making each mouthful nutritious. Then came the bedtime routine—the temperature of the room controlled, pillows fluffed to just the right firmness, reading till eyelids drooped over Leo”s face.

But soon, in a matter of weeks, her worry became an obsession. Rena began to watch Leo every move and sigh. She wired up a baby monitor not just in the nursery, but in the rooms she used most. The soft glow of the monitor was a comforting acquaintance on Rena’s sleepless nights. A cough or a sigh would have her jumping out of bed, her heart pounding, to the bedside of her son.

On the park, Rena shadowed like a watchful ghost. The other moms socialized and laughed, but Rena never looked away from Leo, always keeping an eye out for the first scrape or tumble. When Leo climbed up the jungle gym, Rena’s hands gripped tight, ready to catch him if he tumbled.

Friends jokingly teased Rena for being too intense, but she simply smiled and nodded, aware that only she understood the intensity of her feelings. "It's not worry," she told herself. "It's love. Pure, fierce love."

Rena’s obsession wasn’t without sacrifice. Her days became a cycle of preparing snacks, organizing toys, sanitizing surfaces, and researching every new symptom Leo mentioned. She bookmarked countless parenting forums and medical articles, determined to be the best mother possible.

One afternoon, Leo hobbled in from school. Rena”s mind flashed — was it a sprain, a break, or a more serious issue? She cleaned and examined Leo’s foot gingerly, recalling all that she'd ever learned about children's injuries. She pressed her fingers gently and prodded cautiously, her heart twisting with each groan from her son.

Let's have you checked," said Rena softly, taking Leo’s hand. At the doctor's office, Rena sat tight, holding on to every word. When the doctor told her it was a mild strain, relief washed through Rena— along with a burst of guilt. Had her obsessive mind caused unnecessary worry? Or had it kept Leo from getting injured?

Inside, Rena sat in the nursery, watching slumbering Leo. The perpetual rising and falling of her son's chest was a soothing rhythm, but Rena’s mind was turbulent. She was aware that her obsession, if born of love, was also a jail. A jail that she had built for herself and for Leo, to protect but at times suffocating.

The following day, Rena made up her mind to change. She would still love, ferociously and intensely, but she would learn to trust — trust herself, trust Leo and trust the world a little bit more.

At the playground, Rena grinned as Leo ran ahead, his laughter pure and unadorned. Rena watched, her heart full, yet her hands open. She knew that her obsession stemmed from love, but love could also be about letting go.

And in that instant, Rena found a new kind of care — one fueled by faith, braced by courage, and infused with the soft power of a mother who knew that sometimes the greatest gift she could give Leo was freedom.

The question will always be, are we sure on what is right for our kids? Or is it a trial and error journey ? If so will they accept and are we ready to learn, adjust and adapt.

More to uncover ….