Afriza... the Non-Mainstream Mother

Rania Khan finding solace in Afriza's arms... 

2 more days and my li'l Ms Rania Khan would turn to be two months old! We thank The Almighty for bestowing us with the presence of this angel who has made us realise that there are so many things that we could still learn in raising a child, the challenges are plenty but the rewards are countless.

Contrary to many beliefs, we are the parents that decided from the earliest beginning, that our child is our universe and not anyone else's. Simply because we have seen so many people posting on their social media that their child could do this and do that, but do we have rainbows shooting out our rears? I guess not and we did not want to be the same kind of parents, thus our album of Rania is only shared with close family and friends that would actually be interested in seeing her.

And our family gatherings does not have the conversation starters of what amazing feat that Rania did but rather a moment of discovery when they realise themselves and treasure the moment. See, it is much better when that happens than the audience scoffing... yeah yeah your kid discovered that she can poop and makes the cutest face while pooping!

But the post today is a tribute to my wife, Afriza who has been going thru so much and have made countless sacrifices in caring for Rania. Her pregnancy was already challenging enough with major water retention and her bulging disk that kept giving her antagonising pain, sitting too long or standing too long could just make her want to scream her lungs out, yet not even one instance that she uttered displeasure in having Rania.

Then came the challenges of the actual delivery, which I would not go in details, but as usual, Afriza decided to not take the simpler comfortable route but persevered till the very end. These are the sort of things that makes me truly amazed with my wife.

From the day Rania was born, we had so many experts in raising a child that kept giving countless 'advices' which made Afriza confused, but then there are the worst kinds that just keeps pulling Afriza down everytime she is faced with a stumbling block. So much negativity surrounded her when she persisted in doing the right things for Rania.

There are days when she would just stay up at night while attending to Rania with tears in her eyes when she reflects on these negative remarks, till one day when she decided that she would just ignore, be strong and be persistent in raising our li'l angel amidst any challenges.

Most importantly, she did never bother me, during her confinement, I was always forced to go sleep in a separate room with air-con and all comfort while she had sleepless night as Rania was living in a different time zone, simply put, she was asleep when the whole world was awake and kept Afriza awake when the rest of Malaysia was sleeping haha. I was allowed to accompany Afriza only during the weekends and those two days/week experience was already making me loose my head and temper!

All in all, I could continue writing this for pages but would simply stop here saying that I love my wife so much, and I admire her persistent, perseverance and dedication in raising our angel. I myself could not have gone thru a single bit of what she went thru but I am so proud today seeing Rania growing healthily, thanks to the certain choices her mother made.

To men out there who are in my shoes, you might not be able to do much for your spouse, but do take a moment to reflect on her sacrifice and see her in that moment in time, seal it in your minds and you might just discover a whole new level of respect for that woman in your life who is going thru so much, raising YOUR CHILD!!! Give her a helping hand, you might not be able to match her task but just by doing simple li'l things, she would be truly appreciative and for her, it is the biggest deal...

Honey, if you are reading this, I just want to say thank you so very much, from the bottom of my heart of raising Rania immaculately and I would like to sincerely apologise for not being as much help as you would expect me to be honey. I'm sorry for certain moments that I loose my calm when my co-operation was required and I hope that you could forgive me for my short-comings in being a great parent like you have been. I love you so much and hope I would be bestowed as much wisdom and courage as you. Rania Khan might carry my surname but the honour of raising her goes to you my love...