Mirror Me | A Mother's Love

Cora & Esther

It's 8 a.m., and the day is barely starting. Cora is busy preparing breakfast for the kids, scrubbing last night's dishes, and attempting to tidy up the house a bit, knowing her mother, Esther, will arrive at any moment.

Esther is supposed to help Cora with cleaning, dishes, and watching the kids. However, her presence feels more of a burden than a help. Cora knows her mother is trying in her own way, with no ill intentions, but her assistance always seems to come with strings attached and thinly veiled criticisms.

Cora is interrupted by her oldest child's screams. She stops washing dishes to see what's going on. Her oldest is upset because the younger sibling is sitting too close. Cora rolls her eyes and tells them to simply be kind to each other. She is stressed, anxious, and doesn't have the mental space to keep playing referee.

"Please, try to get along and eat your breakfast."

Just as Cora calms them down, Esther tries to enter the house, assuming the door will be unlocked. Why can't she knock? Cora thinks, rolling her eyes. Esther always expects doors to be left open when she announces a visit. Even family friends and new acquaintances—she just walks in without knocking or ringing the bell, which drives Cora insane.

Since the front door is locked, Esther uses her copy of the key to barge in. Esther isn't supposed to have a key, but she made one anyway. Cora had specifically asked her not to, as the apartment complex only issues two keys, but Esther didn't care. "We can just throw it away in the dumpster when you move," she'd said.

Inside, Cora seethes. Making a copy of an apartment key without permission is one thing; throwing it away later is another. Why is she like this? Cora wonders. Never listening, always doing what she wants. It's her way or no way; her opinion is always the right one.

The door closes behind Esther as she greets her grandchildren with loud enthusiasm, hugging them before taking off her shoes. She unpacks the lunch she prepared and walks to the fridge. "I'll just leave this here since there's never any space in your refrigerator."

"Thanks, Mom," Cora replies, unamused.

Esther immediately goes into action, as though she's clocked in for the day. She starts by washing the dishes and, once those are done, rushes to the trash bin, digging through it to remove large pieces, and does the same with the recycling. She gathers everything and quickly moves to throw it out.

When Esther comes back in, the kids start talking to her, but she interrupts, pushing them aside. "I have to wash my hands. My hands are dirty."

Then, she goes into the bathroom, tidying up here and there, and collects the trash from that room as well.

Meanwhile, Cora, not wanting to seem lazy, starts a load of laundry. As Esther rushes around cleaning and picking up after everyone, Cora feels the need to make excuses for why the trash wasn't taken out or why there are still dishes in the sink, making lighthearted jokes to explain herself.

"Of course, you're pregnant with two kids; it's exhausting to keep up," Esther responds to Cora's explanations, trying to sound supportive, though her expression says otherwise.

"Well, we wanted to get some bins and organizers so we can..."

"Where would you put them? There's no space here; you guys have too much stuff," Esther interrupts.

"Well, yeah, so we decided not to buy them. I've been trying to throw things away."

"Yeah, you need to just throw things away. I've been cleaning my house and getting rid of things too. And about the stuff of yours in my garage—I keep looking at it, wanting to organize and throw it out, but how could I just throw your things away?"