Last week’s episode of AMC’s ‘Mad Men’ reminded us that our
kids will always need us no matter what they have, who they are with, or where
they will be.
In the episode, Sally Draper ditches the posh family ski weekend
with Betty and Henry and commands a hip weekend in the city with Don and Megan.
The pinnacle of her weekend junket is skipping school (approved by dad!),
meeting her phone-pal “boyfriend,” and spending the morning at the Museum of
Natural History. Having attained all that a rebellious pre-pubescent heart
could desire, Sally’s big day out is stained with the onset of her “becoming a
woman;” the realization that she doesn’t even like the boyfriend in his physical
presence despite loving the secret she had been keeping about their
relationship; and that all she wants right now is mommy…
This basic human need for mommy, ever more powerful and
poignant during big risks and life events, actually puts us moms in a very
powerful position. Am I prepared for all this responsibility? Will I be present
and prepared in the actual moment when these events occur for my daughters?
So far my two girls are only 2.3 years and 2 months old, so
they haven’t experienced the full fury of what life has to throw at them just yet.
But some of the times that have mattered so far include:
- Bedtime and the fog of night wakings
- Shots at the doctor’s office (probably more traumatic for me)
- First 3 days of pre-preschool drop-off program (she still repeats her mantra of “Mommy will be right downstairs” each time I drop her off)
- Falling backwards off a play structure about 4 feet off the ground to land with a disproportionate (given her petite stature) heavy thump in a big pile of freshly poured sand (thank goodness). She still talks about it today, “Coco fall at the park with Iris and mommy? That was so scary.”
I am grateful every day I am able to spend with my girls and
be there in their moments of need. As for everything else I think I do badly
on a daily basis (cooking, being a wife, reinventing a career), at least I can be happy
for this!
Please share your own most powerful mommy moments, how you
dealt with them and what you learned. I loved this blogger’s aha moment of her
own:
