Moms share secrets of parenthood on their day in Vaughan

Yorkregion.com
May 8, 2016
By Amanda Persico

Motherhood is hard.
But nothing can compare to the warm hugs and lessons learned from a young child.

That’s the message from one mother to a new mom today on Mother’s Day.

“Everyone tells you it’s hard,” said Thornhill resident Dina Taha. “You don’t understand how much until you are in the situation.”

Taha brought her son, Malik Omran, who will be turning two this summer, to the Bathurst Clark Resource library in Vaughan for the Mother’s Day tea party.

“Having children is a drastic change in your life and your routine,” she said. “But it’s not permanent.”

While being a mom is a 24-hour job that doesn’t stop, for her Mother’s Day is the one day she remembers to be a mom and nothing else.

“It’s a time to enjoy motherhood,” she said.

Other days, she becomes the family cook, chauffeur and cleaning lady like countless mothers across Canada.

For Carmen Tay, a Thornhill mom of two, Mother’s Day is extra special, since her first son, John Chua, was born two years ago on Mothers Day.

“He was my Mother’s Day gift,” she said.

Tay, along with husband, Nicolas Chua, brought her son John and 5-month-old Mark Chua, to the library this morning to celebrate time together as a family.

“Motherhood is about putting the kids first,” she said. “You do what the kids want to do before you do what you want to do. It takes some getting used to.”

Moms-to-be are often told life will change once a child is brought into the world. And quite often moms are reminded of how hard it is.

But it’s the inherent life lessons that are unexpected.

“They taught me to slow down and look at things from there’s perspective,” Tay said. “It could be looking at a worm or walking slowly through the park. This is how it’s going to be so enjoy it.”
For Taha, her son taught her to play again.

“I laugh more than I have before,” she said. “I’m enjoying toys again through him, watching as he grows, learns and becomes independent.”