As children we are brought up to believe that we can achieve anything, we can do anything, be anything we want to be. We are taught by the media that to be successful and accomplished, we first need to achieve fame and riches. We need to be caught in the public eye (in a positive way). We need to move out of our parent’s house as quickly as possible and have friends and boyfriends overrule everything in our lives. But after studying a few poems in English class, I have come to the conclusion that the one thing we need to be is appreciative.

Everyday we live a life that some people don’t get to live. I know, for one, that I have a stable environment where I can be happy. What else do we need? For a long time I did think that I need technology, expensive clothes and the best food money can buy. When I didn’t get my own way, and I’m sure this is the same for any spoilt girls or boys out there, I had tantrums. Which was very grown up of me, I know. We don’t need any of those things though. There are little kids in places like Ukraine, Bulgaria, Moldavia and Albania who have practically nothing.

Some of them don’t even have clean water, so die from infectious diseases like cholera and who knows what else. At the very least, we have clean water. Which we can look at two ways: they provide us with water or, in the way I like to look at it, they are water to us. Water symbolises life and we are alive because of them; they’re like a source of nourishment for us because they provide us with the essential basics that we need to flourish into adulthood. We depend on our mothers a lot more than we or they know. We turn to them for their pride of us, for their compliments and respect. I don’t know whether the rest of you think about this or not, but we rely on them for censure. We rely on them to keep us down-to-earth and not lead us into being hot-headed humans. I don’t know about the rest of your mothers but mine is bold and fathoming. She’s replenishing and always able to provide exactly what I need to develop and overcome life’s challenges.

We all say things in the heat of the moment like I call her some nasty things which are obviously hurtful. When she tries telling me to respect her, I push her away even more. Sometimes I do actually take her comments to heart but just do the opposite so I seem like I’m not listening. Actually I respect my mother a lot more than she knows, and I’m working hard to get out of my spoilt and selfish ways. It’s just those split second moments in the day when you see that shirt and you think ‘I need it’, so I end up begging and pleading however much I’m being refused. At the end, I come out of it hating her but she always finds her way back to me.

Like a moon, she is such a big part of my life. I don’t know if I’d be able to get asleep without the moon; it’s better than a haze of sunlight burning in my eyes. I don’t know if I’d be able to go to sleep without knowing she is safe and sound, somewhere close. In a way, she’s also sunrise to me. One of the reasons, I am able to get up in the morning. I look forward to going places, just me and her. Again, I look forward to talking with only her. She’s a much better source of comfort and closeness than any friend would ever be. She is water, the moon and the sun – her tie to me is everlasting.

So when I’m thirty and looking back on my childhood, I’ll be looking back on her. For now, I’m looking at what she achieved and thirty and I hope I achieve the same. I want to have a stable job so I can pay the bills, maybe even have a husband and kids. I know if I ever do become a mother, I want to be like her. While her punishment methods aren’t always the best, I always come out of it happy and content. It’s not just her praise that will lead be into adulthood and independence, it’s the example of her. And so I wrote her a praise song, which I hope will make her proud:

You always have been,
The source of my accomplishments,
My own special safety pin

You are to me,
What milk is to a newborn baby,
Soft, necessary and nourishing

When I get ill,
You’re the very reason I get better,
You and your sense of goodwill

Even when I’m angry and upset,
I need you more than anything else,
Because you are the very thing that makes me forget

You’re my replenishing source,
That keeps me going,
My own white horse

You keep me in line,
Make sure I never get a hot-head,
My baggage, you always consign

So I hope you have everything you want,
And everything you need,
You deserve every piece of vaunt

Although I know sometime you need to get away,
I know I can come across unwilling,
I just want to see you everyday

You’re my inspiration,
The reason for this song,
My only fixation