Imagine a job where you always feel unappreciated, people around you are selfish, very ungrateful and you are always on call — 23×7. When something goes wrong, you get blamed, you are also expected to know everything. A lot of times, when you you feel like you don’t have anything left to give, you get asked to do more.

Before I forget, this is all charity work, free, no pay.

At the risk of not oversimplifying this seemingly very unrewarding position, this job is called “Motherhood”.

This is the 10th year that I’ll be married to Marchesa and each year has brought us new, complicated and even resurgent challenges. 10 years later, we now have three kids. We might even be entering into that “golden age” of parenthood which is referred to when your oldest kid is just young enough NOT to be in their teenage years and the youngest is potty trained.

If you need proof of how amazing of a wife and mother she is, just look at our kids (you can also look at how clean and how wonderfully designed the interior of our house is). You can also look at where I am now in my career. I would never be where I am right now if I didn’t have her support despite the chaos of three tornados that she has to deal with on a daily basis.

I don’t even remember when the last time we had a real vacation with the truest meaning and sense of the word. A lot of times, “vacations” are probably more stressful than just being at home. A typical vacation for us starts when, things get packed, loaded in the car, then she checks if the kids are buckled right, she goes back to her side of the car, takes her seat, and them we are off. To put things in greater perspective, the time that she took to walk from Elle’s side of the car, and back to her seat is most likely THE vacation for her.

Being a mom is difficult. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that is. When we first started dating, I did not even think or consider how she will be like to our future kids because whether we like it or not, you can never know until you are there. I look at my kids now and see how behaved, polite, and caring they are (most of the time). That, is a reflection of their mom. I see their mom’s fingerprints on all of them and I am thankful.

I love my wife. I don’t know what, where or how I’d be without her. Hopefully one day, I can give her that life she deserves. Until then, I will try to do what I can to make her happy.

We love you mahal. We are, because you are.