I had a mommy
moment a few days ago. One of those moments most parents won’t admit happen. The reality is that us moms try to
make it look like everything is great, and we never share all the times we
almost ditched the full grocery cart because a meltdown got out of hand.
We never admit there are times we do everything possible to avoid leaving
the house with a toddler and fussy infant. There are times our children
say things in public that make us want to crawl in the nearest hole.
There are times the house appears to have been hit by a tornado (in my
case, Tornado Dylan and Cohen). This list could go on… But what’s on Facebook?
The good pictures when our house is clean, when our children are being good in
public, and so and on.
My mommy moment came at the doctor’s office at one of the boy’s regular
check-ups. I was by myself with a toddler and infant in a small room,
waiting. Anyone with a three-year-old knows this will not last long; a tantrum is
coming soon. What you need to know is that my three-year-old son loves to
talk, all the time, non-stop. Bless his heart, but it’s a lot.
Every time the doctor would speak, he was already talking, asking a
question, letting her know something about “Baby Cohen.” We are working
on manners. He does say excuse me… every two seconds. At one point, I could
barely hear her, and I again calmly asked him to “hold on, please.” What I did
next shocked me: I silently mouthed to the doctor, “I’m so sorry,” meaning “I’m
so sorry he is talking so much.”
After the visit while walking to the
truck, I was so embarrassed. You might think I was embarrassed because he
was talking so much, and in the doctor’s office, I was. As we were
leaving, I was embarrassed with myself. Why did I just apologize for my
son talking too much, asking too many questions, for being curious? By
saying “sorry,” I was saying “sorry” that my son was being himself that my son
was curious, that my son was learning. I should have been saying “I’m
sorry I’m embarrassed.” Shame on me. I began thinking about all the moms
with three-year-olds that are sick and can barely get out of bed, are
unable to express themselves using words, are no longer with us. Some parents
would give anything to take a talkative three-year-old to the doctor to a small
room with an infant and wait.
Hopefully I remind at least one mom, like I had to remind myself today,
to never apologize for your child simply being themselves. Do not apologize for
your house being a complete disaster because your toddler has destroyed it in a
matter of minutes. Do not apologize for your furniture falling apart
because you have a young boy that thinks he is superman and can jump off
things. In my case, never apologize for your baby talking too much. One
day soon, they might not want to talk to you at all, they might start telling
you less, asking less questions, and one day we will long for that small voice
full of chatter. We will miss the little boys in the house: screaming,
yelling at the top of their lungs, and racing around.
Let’s encourage each other, and know that at the end of the day: your
child is completely unique and special.
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