I gained a renewed appreciation of the mama (mum and pop) shop near my house upon reading that there are only around 200 mama shops in Singapore these days.

So many flats in my country, and yet one of them exists in my void deck (what we call the ground floor here)!

It is the best manifestation of the Chinese proverb 麻雀虽小 五脏俱全 (literal translation: A sparrow may be small, but it has all the necessary internal organs.)

It is a lifesaver too. This morning, my toddler flew into a murderous rage because I tried to put on new shoes on her. What happened to her usual pair of shoes, I hear you ask? Oh, I haven’t told you about how she barfed yesterday, aiming her vomit accurately on her shoes? Ya, shit happens.

Parenting is a lot about honing your intuition and instincts. I marched her to the mama shop and bought a packet of Milo nuggets for her. Who can resist these heavenly punches of cocoa? Not my toddler. A smile chased away her Grammy Award-worthy tears; a disaster averted.

I hope this mama shop will stay strong throughout my children’s growing up years.