Homecoming & going

Sorry I haven’t updated as much as usual over the past few days.

Yesterday I flew from Germany to Canada with two kids. I wasn’t the only mother travelling with multiple offspring. It was a tough day (especially when my 3 year-old started barfing during the full hour of turbulence), but it wasn’t an experience that will scar me for life. The Air Canada Crew was friendly and helpful and I think that made a huge difference in making the flight a positive experience.

I am now here with my mother and feel fantastic just being in my homeland. Almost every culture insists that a woman return home to her own family of origin. For some, it is for the birth itself, or to ensure her recovery afterward and to make sure the new child gets through the first months (or full first year) of life. In countries where mother-in-laws overwork their son’s wives or where polygamy is widel-practised this can be an especially important custom. Even in my modern Western life, being part of my family of origin when I am vulnerable gives me an added dose of security. Whomever we are and where ever we come from, for a mother to have the protection of her own relatives after childbirth is a social safety mechanism that protects both women and young children. 

And, while I am not under threat, there is one emotion I feel overwhelmingly now that I am here in my mother’s house with my children.

Safe.