Mother is a journalist

Uyen's morning of the school year summary was sadder than usual because in the last class meeting before summer break, the teacher mentioned Uyen's name in front of the class because her mother was absent from the year-end parent-teacher meeting, a very important meeting. Uyen went home dejectedly, but her mother had not returned yet. Having gotten used to her mother's schedule, Uyen went to measure rice and cook rice. Her 6th grade brother had just been picked up by a neighbor. That neighbor was hired by Uyen's parents on a monthly basis, just to take her younger brother to school because last year, her younger brother was admitted to a high-quality school in the city, so the commute was quite far. Uyen's father was in the army, stationed far away, and her mother was a newspaper reporter. That was enough to imagine that Uyen's parents did not have much time for the family, so Uyen became independent early. Both sisters were proud of their parents' jobs, telling each other to study hard and get high scores.

Uyen's mother said that although her job is not hard in terms of time, it is high-intensity, under a lot of pressure, having to produce news articles in time to send to the editorial office for publication. Going to the base, rolling around with reality to collect data, exploiting information is hard, sometimes dangerous, but having to produce news, submit articles on time, on time also requires reporters to make a lot of effort. One day, because of making a special issue, her mother's team had to work until 2 am to finish the job. Despite all the hard work, her mother never complained, but she always arranged her housework and office work reasonably. Almost every family dinner was without her, and on holidays, only her uncle and aunt took Uyen and her sister to visit their grandparents. Sympathizing with her mother, Uyen's father always shared the housework when he was on leave.

Looking at her friends in the neighborhood being taken by their parents to the park, the swimming pool, the movies, the restaurant or simply to school in the afternoon, Uyen also felt sorry for herself, longing to be like her friends. It seemed simple but it was so difficult for her mother. Sometimes, Uyen was angry with her mother... Sometimes when her mother came home early, her younger brother Uyen asked in surprise: "Why did you come home early today, Mom? You came home to get your things and then go back to work?". The innocent question of the child made her stop. She did not have enough time for her family, but Mom always took care of Uyen and her sisters. Every time she had to go on a business trip or come home late, Mom always prepared food and drinks. On her days off, Mom showed off her cooking skills when she and Uyen liked the dishes. When the family had something to do or guests, Mom always prepared delicious dishes to entertain them. Once, Uyen's younger brother had a viral fever and had to be hospitalized, Mom was like a shuttle, worrying and taking care of him while also getting information, then taking the computer to the hospital to work. Mom said, if there is just one problem with her work, it will affect the whole publishing process.

When the incident happened, Uyen's mother did not come to the parent-teacher meeting without giving a reason. Even though the meeting was on Sunday, the teacher tried to contact her but could not, and on Monday morning, her mother did not call her back. On Sunday night, her mother came home exhausted, the phone rang continuously, and someone even growled: "Do you want your camera to be smashed?". Early the next morning, her mother only had time to prepare breakfast for the two sisters, give instructions to the neighbor, and then she left and has not returned yet.

- Ah, Dad's back! Feeling sad, seeing Dad's soldier uniform outside the gate, Uyen happily rushed out to hug Dad. Her younger brother rushed to take the backpack for Dad. "This time, I have to tell on Mom", Uyen thought to herself, preparing the necessary things in her mind, telling herself that Dad would criticize Mom. Strangely, Dad didn't ask anything about Mom, but ran into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator to get food to cook, while cooking Dad whistled happily.

- Dad, mom isn't home yet. And yesterday, she didn't go to the parent-teacher meeting...

- I know!

Uyen eyes wide open

- Don't you think it's unusual? Mom never misses meetings for us!

Dad turned to look at Uyen and said:

- That's why I asked for a sudden leave to come back and support you and your mother! I'll contact the teacher tonight. And my daughter got an award this school year, right? So what's there to worry about?

Uyen was sulking. Just then, her mother came home, looking tired but with a radiant face. Her mother said:

- I'm sorry, yesterday was a special day so I didn't have time to arrange, so... I'll tell you a story...

Uyen's father interrupted:

- Dad and I always understand and sympathize with mom, right?

Seeing Uyen's eyes widen, Mom began the story: Mom was assigned by the editorial office to do an investigative report on a case of a 6-year-old boy being abused by his stepfather, leading to mental and physical trauma, requiring hospitalization. However, while writing the article, Mom was called by the stepfather's family to make an appointment and threaten to assault her. Mom reported to the agency's leadership and shared with Dad for support. And Mom was helped, so that the report could be completed and published in the newspaper. Right after the publication, Mom continued to be threatened, but promptly reported to work with the police agencies to promptly collect evidence, bring the incident to light, and warn the threatening subject. That is the reason why Mom has had to go back and forth in the past few days, including for the safety of Uyen and her sisters.

Uyen could not hold back her tears when she heard her mother's story. She hugged her mother tightly: "I'm so sorry, Mom...But just because of a little selfishness, I misunderstood you, then blamed you for thinking that you were too busy with work to care about us.

Uyen's father happily said:

- Okay, the food is ready, Uyen and Tam take a bath and then the whole family eats. Then your parents will come to see me to discuss your studies!

Uyen's mother suddenly remembered and said:

- Oh, mom, tomorrow we'll buy some fruit to visit the baby, so the kids can see that in life, there are many children who are in more disadvantaged situations than us, so we can see how lucky we are...

Without being told, the two Uyen sisters shouted:

- Yes!