Category Archives: Grateful Mama

March 13, 2012 · 4:06 pm

The Village People

Every now and then, shout-outs are in order for the people who help a Sick Mama in trouble.  Yesterday morning, I woke up with the kind of stomach bug that makes it hard to be a human being, let alone a mother. The kind of bug that makes you feel like you’re on the verge of throwing up or passing out every time you stand up.  The kind of bug that makes you want to lie horizontally with your eyes closed for the rest of your life.  The kind of bug that makes you want to hand your children over to the mail carrier, UPS delivery guy, the woman behind the deli counter at the grocery store, or anyone who you think has the greatest statistical chance of returning them home unharmed at the end of the day.

Twenty-four hours later, I feel like myself again, and I need to give some shout-outs to the villagers who helped me live to see another day.

To Dylan and Riley: Thank you for understanding when I had to reschedule our special trip to the Naples Zoo.  Thank you for playing in my bed for two hours in the morning while I rested (horizontally with my eyes closed).   Thank you, Dylan, for understanding how quickly we needed to get in and out of the toy store (a consolation for the postponed trip to the zoo and, in hindsight, a really, really bad idea), and for trying to help your brother, Mr. Indecision, pick a toy as fast as possible.  (In the end, I agreed to buy Riley a large bag of plastic pastel Easter eggs just to get out of there.)    Thank you, Riley, for asking me if I felt better every time I got out of bed.  Thank you, Dylan, for bringing me a bowl of crackers when I finally felt like my stomach could handle it.  Thank you.

To Grandpa Tom and Grandma Barbara:  Thank you for coming to my rescue after I nearly passed out in the parking lot at Toys R Us.  At that point, it was adrenaline – and adrenaline alone – that enabled me to get the boys home safely with their Star Wars toys (and plastic Easter eggs).  Thank you for entertaining them, feeding them, and watching Star Wars with them (with Dylan’s scene by scene narration) while I slept for the entire afternoon.  Thank you for dropping what you were doing to help me out. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

To Daddy:  Thank you for getting home from work early, for cleaning up the horrible mess that spread through the house during the day, mostly due to the plastic Easter egg explosion, and for getting the over-tired kids to bed.  Thank you for finally convincing Riley to poop and for managing his “I want one more new cup of water” horror show at bedtime.  Thank you.

To Aunt Heather:  Thank you for taking the boys on an exciting water taxi adventure today. Even though the trip was planned long before the bug invaded my body, the timing was perfect.    

Today, I’m a Grateful Mama for my health, coffee, and, most of all, my village.

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Filed under family, Grateful Mama, Sick Mama, village

March 4, 2012 · 2:32 pm

Priceless

Yesterday, I had the privilege of hearing two priceless conversations. The first one went something like this:

Dylan: “Riley, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

Riley: “A firefighter!”

Dylan: “Riley, you don’t want to be a fire fighter.  If you’re a fire fighter, you have to go in fire, and if you go in fire you will get burned and you will get hurt.”

Riley: “Well…(long pause)…but…(long pause)…I’ll wear my seatbelt.”

That one happened in the car on the way to the mall.  I wrote it down immediately because I want to remember it forever.  I needed to return a belt at Macy’s and both boys insisted on coming with me.  This was not a mission on which I would typically encourage them to join me, but I was headed to the theater in the afternoon to see “Billy Elliot,” and I figured Mike would appreciate an hour to himself before I left him alone with the kids for the rest of the day.  Also, I knew the boys would love going up and down the “escavator” (escalator) at the mall.  (They did.)

The second conversation I heard was at the theater later that afternoon between Billy and the unnamed person interviewing him as part of his audition for the Royal Ballet School in London.  During the exchange onstage, Billy was asked, “What does it feel like when you’re dancing?”  His response was:

I can’t really explain it, I haven’t got the words

It’s a feeling that you can’t control

I suppose it’s like forgetting, losing who you are

And at the same time something makes you whole

As a (former) dancer, this response was perfection.  It described the indescribable sensation of dancing better than I’d ever heard before.  As I sat in the dark theater – nostalgic about my own experience as a dancer many years ago – it also occurred to me that it sounded a lot like what it feels like to be a mother.

That day had been a good great mommy day for me, and it wasn’t just because I spent the afternoon and early evening at the theater without my kids.  Even though the day started at 6:15 a.m. (thank you, Riley), there was no guilt, no yelling, no time-outs, no pee or poop accidents, no fights over food, and no desire to not come home from the theater (pardon the double negative). On the contrary, we survived – and enjoyed ourselves – at Costco, the mall and the “escavator” earlier in the day, and by the time the show was over and the post-theater drinks and dinner were consumed, I couldn’t wait to get home and quiz Dylan and Riley about every minute of their day that I missed.  I couldn’t wait to feel whole again.

I’m a Grateful Mama that I overheard my boys talk about their dreams as only three- and five-year-old brothers are capable of doing, that I had the chance to watch an inspirational story unfold about another little boy realizing his dream of being a dancer, and that I had the priceless opportunity to see how my own dreams, past (dance) and present (motherhood), made me feel the same – “…like forgetting, losing who you are, and at the same time something makes you whole.”

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Filed under conversations to remember, dreams, Grateful Mama, motherhood, theater