Each Monday I'd like to write a themed blog post titled "Mommy Moment Monday." My description of a "Mommy Moment" is any moment in time related to your role as a mother that elicits strong emotions. For any dads who might be reading this, you can insert 'father' into the previous sentence, because anyone who is a parent knows exactly what I'm talking about when I say 'strong emotions!' But for the sake of this blog I'm going use 'mother' because, well, I'm a mother.
Mommy moments happen all the time, don't they? In our homes, at the park, at the grocery store...anywhere really! And sometimes it seems like each new mommy moment brings with it a whole new emotion. These emotions can be good, bad, happy, sad, proud, angry, confused, and anything in between. And let's not even talk about mommy guilt! But I didn't feel any of these during the mommy moment I'm sharing with you today.
Embarrassment. This is the emotion I felt during a particular mommy moment that happened earlier this year. Oh, was I embarrassed! I was at the park with my kids, along with some of my son's preschool friends and their moms. I was chatting with one of the other moms when my son ran over to tell me he needed to use the bathroom. I gathered our bags and my daughter which were both conveniently close, and I was feeling pretty happy at how quickly we were ready to make the trek across the park to the bathrooms. This was one of the few times I felt like I had it all together! But unfortunately, the story doesn't end here with the ever-elusive emotion of all-togetherness. No, it sure doesn't.
I started to say "come on!" to my son, but I didn't see him anywhere. That's when I heard someone say, "Uhhhh, he's peeing." I froze. Oh no. Please no! I turned around, and there he was just on the other side of the playground equipment with his pants around his ankles. I put our bags down and began to walk towards my son, my view of him still slightly obstructed. Then I heard something I never expected to hear in public. As if the situation wasn't bad enough already, the same voice called out, "Uhhhh, he's pooping, too!" What!?!? Yes folks, he was pooping. I could've died! But suddenly this sense of calm (no doubt sent from God!) came over me and I just did what I had to do. I cleaned the mess. I cleaned my son. I ignored all the stares. And we left. Thank goodness I was at some place where all the other people were parents too! Can you imagine if this had happened at the grocery store?
On our way to the car, one of the other moms gave me a sympathetic look and gently said, "Bless your heart." I don't know why, but instead of feeling comforted by her sincere gesture, this made me feel the most embarassed of all. I swallowed hard. I kindly smiled and kept on walking. Finally, we made it to our car. The emotion I felt at this point was an overwhelming sense of relief. I was never so happy to be in the safety and privacy of my car! I then calmly explained to my son why what had happened at the park was not okay, and we drove the rest of the way home in silence.
I hope I never experience another mommy moment like what I call "the park incident", although I'm sure there'll be more moments just as emotion evoking! Until then, I thank God for the excitement my children bring to my life (and pray for some boring moments every now and then)!
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