Editor’s Note: The views expressed here are those of the author’s and don’t necessarily represent or reflect the views of MangoBaaz.

By: Anonymous

To my future kid,

I’m writing this when I’m just 18. I don’t want to get married right away and I’m in no rush but, I know I’ll get married some fine day and I’ll have you with me as well.

All I want to say is, I won’t tell you who you should be. Which profession you should choose or what subjects are good for you. We’ll find your talent together. We’ll search and see what you’re capable of. It doesn’t matter if you score an A or a D in your school. You’re not a failure at all. You’ll do wonders some fine day, but in the field of your own choice. I just want you to be who you actually are and do what you’re capable of doing. I will teach you something specific, though. I’ll teach you about the kitchen.

It’s just that, this world is a kitchen.

What my duty is, is to tell you about the kitchen and what it contains. Actually, I’ll give you all the ingredients you need but I’m sorry I can’t give you a recipe for a particular dish. You’ll have to find it yourself, what you can cook, or what you like cooking. It’s fine if you choose a dish which I don’t like. After all, it’s you who is cooking and when you’re happy with it, your mom will be happy, as well.

When you start cooking, I won’t leave you alone in the kitchen. I’ll be there to make sure that you don’t burn your hand. Or maybe you don’t know how to turn on and turn off the stove, or how to burn the matchstick. I’ll be there to teach you this. Or maybe you’re mixing a wrong ingredient with a wrong one. I’ll teach you how to do that correctly. I’ll teach you how to pick up your mess from the kitchen, while you’re cooking. It might get hard, cooking and cleaning simultaneously but when you’re done cleaning and the dish is cooking, you can rest for a while.

Because if you leave the kitchen messy it’ll get hard to use this kitchen. 

Maybe, we might run out of the ingredients and we have to go get the grocery. When we step outside, perhaps, the odds aren’t in our favor and the store near our home is closed and then we have to walk all the way to another store. But maybe we get an ice cream during our expedition.

After returning, I might get tired because of all the walking and I decide to take a nap, in the meanwhile you burn your hand and it hurts. But my child, you can cry all you want. Cry for hours, but, at that time I’ll tell you that you can’t run away from the kitchen. You need to go inside there and cook again, even if you’re afraid of the fire burning, as it hurts when it burns. But I’ll tell you, you need to face your fears. Ultimately, a time will come where you won’t be afraid anymore and the burn on your hand won’t hurt.

Then, when you start cooking again, you might overcook the dish and you need to throw it out and start all over again. But don’t for a second think that you’re a failure and you can’t live in this kitchen anymore. You can and you’ll get through this, my child. You aren’t a failure. You’ll be the survivor in this kitchen one day.

And then, one fine day, you’ll be successful in making your perfect dish.

You just did it. The kitchen is a lot messier and you have burns on your hands. But it won’t affect you anymore because you did it. You survived and you just cooked what you wanted to cook. Then, we’ll celebrate and enjoy the dish you made, together. And I’ll be a whole lot happier, because my child cooked what they wanted to. They are what they want to be. Other children might have cooked something different than you, but that doesn’t mean you haven’t done anything in your life. You cooked what you liked and that’s enough for you and me to be happy.

Love,

Your Mammy.

Cover image via: empowher.com