Good Mother Sheep

The children have been busy in the kitchen this holiday. My daughter, who watched her brother work hard for two weeks to make a sourdough starter and bake his own sourdough bread, wanted an opportunity to bake something of her own.

My son, having completed his recent ‘project sourdough’, wanted to continue to hone his skills by baking something different. They each chose a recipe that they would like to try and we set off to gather the ingredients.

First up, my daughter’s tri-coloured cupcakes. As she is five, I weighed each ingredient out for her to simply pour them into the bowl when the time called for it. We held the blender together and watch the batter come together.

During the whole process, she had instances when she got tired (from holding the blender), distracted (by what her father was doing), and worried (when her little brother – who wanted to be a part of the baking – toppled the flour we had prepared earlier on).

We had to recover from all that happened during the baking process, and resolve to keep moving with as much peace as possible. After we re-measured the flour, we invited her little brother to join us again and he was happy to hold on to the blender, and mix with a spatula.

As we were scooping the batter into the cupcake holders, some batter fell on the tray and my daughter said to herself, “It’s ok!” and continued with her work. I was so happy to see that she had learnt that it is okay to make a mess, and that we can fix things – if we only keep our peace. As we continued to work side by side, she said, “This is fun”!

Up next, my eldest son. When it was time for him to bake his cookies, he gathered all he needed and measured each ingredient – a skill he worked on from his last project. Unlike bread, there were many more ‘wet ingredients’ and I could see him fumble a little since these were somewhat new to him.

He too had to go through a range of emotions. The feeling of excitement (to start a new project), panic (when he spilled vanilla essence all over the floor), fear (when he was about to begin putting all the ingredients together), being lost (when his mix did not look as crumbly as it should), and being overwhelmed (by the smell of butter).

Again, my role as a mother was to help him to keep his peace. When he spilled I told him it was ok, and he just needed to clean up. When he felt fear, I had to sit back and watch him overcome that (his fear of making mistakes). When he felt lost, I had to soothe his heart and remind him that we can always check the recipe to see where we might have gone wrong (too little flour) and guide him to problem solve. When he felt overwhelmed, I stood by him and mixed the flour and butter together with him. As soon as he was confident, I stepped back. Just like his sister, as he was placing the cookie dough on the tray, he said, “Fun!”

When the baked goods were out, they were so excited for their father and I to try the food. This is a snippet of what that they had said. “Do you like it?”, “I baked it”, “I like it so much.” Even their little brother said “Jie Jie and I make.”

So, what do mothers do? A mother guides a child to be who they were made to be. Our work as mothers has to be hidden, for our children to shine like little stars.

I thank our lovely Mother Mary, for always standing by me. Her gentleness reflects the tenderness of God our loving Father. When I messed up (and continue to do so), her gentle encouragement points me to her beloved Son, who not only wipes away the mess that I had made, but also cleans up all that residual stickiness that I could not see with my naked eyes.

Time and time again, she pointed me to Christ – the Master of my heart, the One who keeps my peace. Only with that peace could I say with the honesty of a child, “This is fun” – amidst all the challenges that I face in life.

Where would I be without my beloved Mother Mary? Definitely less of a woman than I am right now.