Mum, what do you like?

My mother-in-law's birthday falls on Boxing Day.

Though I have never tell her right in her face, I really do love my mum-in-law.

She's one amazing woman.

A beacon of inspiration for me.

And in all true honesty, I feel women of the older generation seem to have more super powers than us.

Maybe they are fed with some magical milk powder when they're babies.

Maids are non-existent in our mums' and grandmums' generation.

But they usually have more kids than us. 

Like half a basketball team. If not, almost the whole team.

Just imagine the amount of laundry, cleaning and cooking they have to do.

From dusk till dawn.

And there're the husbands who don't have to lift a finger.

It's tougher to be a full-time housewife than to be a full-time career woman.

So last week, while the Husband & I were discussing about Mum-in-law's potluck party, I asked the Husband.

"What does your Mum like to eat? I see if I know how to cook that for her birthday."

He looked at me. Blinked once or twice. And continued looking at me.

My eyes widened.

"You mean being her son of 30 over years, you DON'T KNOW??"

  "Then what does she like to drink? Or favourite soup?"

It wasn't a productive conversation.

Except for a lame reply, "Kopi."

The Husband doesn't even know how his mum likes her coffee or if she has any favourite brand.

Then the Husband threw the question back at me.

I stayed with my in-laws for 3 years.

But I didn't know what my mum-in-law likes too.

Mum always cook sweet and sour pork for my sister-in-law.

Sister is gaga over that.

Mum realises I like green leafy vegetables, so from the usual baby corn with canned mushrooms and sliced carrots, she starts buying xiao bai cai and cai xin.

The family likes mixed noodle soup (e.g. beehoon with kway tiao/yellow noodle) for lunches, so Mum buys more yellow noodles when she saw me passing my beehoon to the Husband who will then give me his yellow noodles.

Grandma-in-law knows I'm a Cantonese and have reiterated to Mum to cook more soups and learn from her sister-in-law if she doesn't know how to.

Never mind that Mum's soups are far from what I'm used to in my own family.

Her efforts to prepare soups almost daily really touches me.

The Husband said he had never drank so much soups by his mum before.

I always finish the pot of soup, no matter what.

And I bought Mum the filter ladle to lift up the oils from the soups.

That makes it easier.

Mum can remember all my favourite dishes and she goes through the trouble to cook them for me, even after we moved into our own place.

Like steamed minced pork with chestnuts.

I don't fancy peeling & chopping chestnuts.

I rather spend the time on TFL emails.

Mum minces the pork with her deft chopping skills on a wooden chopping board.

I thought it was easy till I sent a slab of lean pork flying across my kitchen.

And no matter how hard I try, my minced pork is never minced enough.
How can mincing pork with a chopper be so hard???

The Husband couldn't do it better either, despite his self-proclaimed He-man powers.
Thankfully, the pork seller at the market & Cold Storage get the job done upon request.

Father-in-law loves green bean with barley soup and some dishes that I can never understand.

We practically know what one another in the family likes.

Because Mum always cook it and tell us who it is meant for.

But no one has ever asked Mum what she likes.

I wanted to ask her during her birthday.

But I was so fascinated with the chocolate fondue fountain I rented for her party that I forgot.

Come to think of it, I don't know what my own mother likes, apart from chocolate cake & steamed fish.
My dad likes Kopi-O and...erm...
Oh, this is great.

Metta,
欣雨 Xinyu