A few weeks ago after she had met Derek for the first time, my mum and I had a chat about relationships. That was the first time we ever a heart to heart, mother-to-daughter talk regarding this topic.

She shared stories of her past (she was hot property!) and I was proud to tell her more about Derek. We exchanged our views on men, love and marriage.

I learnt many things that night, about her and about myself. I must have inherited her genes when it comes to love. In fact I think she was rather proud that I value true love over materialism, just like her. She had her fair share of romances and rich men. But she chose my dad in the end.

However, nothing could have prepared her for what was to happen. My mum was caught unawares and struck dumb with the sudden realisation that her daughter has finally grown and it won’t be long when she finally leaves the nest!

Both her and my dad seem to be in a constant state of denial. They are like Steve Martin in “Father of the Bride”, always refusing to admit that I have grown. Perhaps that is how parents are, to them we will always be kids. Despite how much we try to prove our independence, they will always wave it off as a show of childish defiance, our means of getting their attention. An indication of how immature we are.

Therefore imagine my mum’s surprise when I initiated a conversation regarding a subject I never seem to care much about before. She did a double take at my sudden willingness to share my views on such “adult” topics. You see, I was lamenting about the exorbitant prices of HDB flats and the costs involved in rearing kids.

She only mumbled some replies when I expressed my worries about CPF, down payments, instalments for flats and kids. But she went deathly silent when I happily rattled on on how I wouldn’t mind staying with my “mother-in-law” and how I would want to stay in older flats rather than the new smaller flats because they are bigger and not located in
locations like Sengkang or Punggol.

I think she must have flipped and thought “Oh my gawd! My daughter is talking about marriage, flats and kids!”. But before she could recollect her senses and share her views, I had done talking and simply retreated back to my room…

I guess I must have given her a lot to think about for the next few days… Bad me. Heh. :P