I was out with my two younger kids, Coby and Konane, when a Korean woman approached me and asked a question about my work hours and some other details. It took me a second to realize it: she thought I was their nanny. I corrected her. Her response? "You mean you stay with them all day?"
I've been mistaken for a nanny before--when holding friends' babies and when out with only Coby. I'm a Filipina, so I've learned to expect the stereotypes in foreign countries. Women from Southeast Asia are usually contracted as caretakers and housekeepers in Seoul, plus my two younger kids are fairer-skinned--so I normally take no offense and clarify that I'm married to a white man from Texas. This usually gets me a slow nod, raised eyebrows: full understanding.
I think I've muddled over this mistaken identity for a few days because of her final comment. Why is it so remarkable that a mom would want to be with her children all the time? I'm no angel; there are moments (many) when I want to whisk them off to their grandparents for a weekend. However, if you give me a day by myself, truly, I miss them before 3pm. Sometimes, even before lunch.
As I write this, my two older kids are out for the day with their dad (and the baby is asleep), and I miss them all! I miss their little hands, their creative ways of expressing new things, their giant smiles when they do something for the first time. Every day there is something to treasure, and I must remember to be thankful that I can be here for these moments. Others may gawk that I stay with my three children all through the day and all through the night...but gawkers don't understand. Unfortunately, they don't experience the same blessing that accompanies the hard work of being home with babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.
On a lighter note, I did learn through this experience that no one mistakes me for my kids' nanny when Mika is around, proving that one of my children looks like their mama.
