“One is never over-dressed or underdressed with a little black dress,” said the fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld.
I couldn’t agree with him more. Last Friday, I took out my little black dress and got on my big black mama bike. We were out on a date!
It has been almost eight months since we last had one. Many thanks to my parents-in-law. Technically, it was a wine tasting event hosted by a friend, so we were not alone. Wait a minute, we didn’t even sit next to each other. Oh well, we had fun, and I happened to have a bit too much to drink. On top of that, we danced in the end.
We live just outside of Eindhoven. The last part of our usual cycling route is through a spooky road with nothing but tall trees on the sides, and a small tunnel followed by a forest without any street lamps. I reached out my hand to hubby. The moment we held hands, it felt like we were going on an adventure again. Oddly enough, it was familiar yet distant in the meantime. A lot of things seem to either stop or disappear after our baby was born.
Knowing that our son was in good hands, I allowed myself to temporarily forget that I was a mother. I felt surprisingly laid-back and truly enjoyed this precious ME time. Suddenly, an old mystery uncovered itself. I always wonder why my mom looked so relieved and perhaps a bit too happy when she left me and my brother to my older cousins for a few hours so that she could run some errands.
My conclusion was, "Mom must be feeling anxious when we were not around, poor her." What do I think now? "Good for her!"
Being a mother gives the most rewarding and the most frustrating experience. The truth is that I am often sleep-deprived and unbelievably moody. Still, I consider myself lucky because Google tells me that you can’t buy happiness but you can buy a bike; and that’s pretty close.
Looks like I am living in the perfect place!
In general, I am not so good at taking advice. But it wouldn’t hurt to listen to Google once. Therefore, soon after our son could sit up, I put him on the bike. The goal is to get sufficient vitamin D intake from the sunlight. That helps him maintain strong bones, and me kill depression.
I caught myself thinking if I was being a good mother occasionally. Turned out I found a brilliant explanation to justify myself in almost every way.
Here it is. Our boy doesn’t like wearing socks because they slow him down. So he is mostly in his bare feet indoors. Isn’t it too cold? Nee, he is half-Dutch; he will survive. When I simply forgot to give him sunscreen before putting him on the bike, I heard myself say, come on, he is half-Taiwanese; a little bit of sun is not going to be harmful.
Since summer is almost at the corner, easy paced family cycling tours could be our new challenge. It will surely be adventurous to our son. Is it then time to dig out some lovely summer dresses? Ja zeker!
Iris
