Mothers
Diane
Everyone has a mother and everyone has a mother story. Alyssa Rosenberg collected vignettes about the wonders of parenthood, it’s a good read. The article got me to thinking about our kids and stories about them. As Rosenberg suggested, it’s not often the “big things” you remember, it’s the little things. Parenting is hard work and the joys are often hidden by fatigue, frustration, and fear.
As parents, we’ve created new people, people who look like us but don’t necessarily act like us or think like us or “be” like us. The mom usually leads the way to calmer parenting…at least, that was the way in our house. For example, at dinner one night, one of the kids would not taste the mashed potatoes (the child was about 2). I was perplexed and determined. The disagreement escalated. I threatened to throw a VHS tape away (sort of dates when this happened) should the child not take just one little bite. The child folded arms and looked away. One tape gone. Two tapes gone. Three tapes gone. And then a calming mother intervened. Ah….sweet victory, but not for me.
Another child screamed and cried every time we went into a restaurant. Every time. No amount of preparation, no toys, no special treatment, nothing would stop our child from starting to loudly cry when we’d go out to eat. We would take the child outside, show games on the phone, have games in the ever present knapsack, and more. The mom said, be patient. Me? And then one day, nothing. No screams. Like it never happened.
When we bought the first pair of family dogs, the youngest child beamed with joy. It’s hard to describe the glow, the smile, the positive energy! And that didn’t change for all the years that we had the two dogs, Jazz and Rock. The mom found the puppies and made them a part of the family and the family’s joyful play.
I thank God for the partnership of parenting with this awesome woman. “The Mom.” The challenges and joy of what the kids are becoming is because of her strength, patience, and love. She’s given them the support and space they need to grow into the people they’ve become. It’s hard to believe that it was just yesterday when those tiny hands reached up to grab our fingers.