Tried and True Mommy

It’s funny that I really didn’t consider myself a ”true mother” the instant that my first baby was born.  I guess what I considered a “true mother” to be was, not just the mother of a child, but a mother who does some of those weird mom things that your own mother did that you swore you’d never do.  Like show up to school delivering your forgotten lunch while dressed in something totally tacky.  Or lick her finger and use it to wipe jelly off of your face.  Or point her finger at you and say some thing like “Don’t you take that tone of voice with me young lady!”

I’m sad to say, but none the less happy to report, that I too became a true mother.  It’s never one of those moments you dream about, it’s just one of those things that was bound to happen and, of course, when you least expected it.

It started off like any other normal day.  My son was about three at the time and he had just woken up and crawled into my bed and asked for his morning sippy cup full of chocolate milk.  After I had retrieved his chocolate milk and turned on the cartoons I hurried into the bathroom to try and get my shower done before the baby woke up.  I was in and out in less than five minuets and had just gotten my underwear on when I heard my son moaning.  I walked into the room to the side of my bed where he was lying propped up on my pillows.  I asked him in a sympathetic voice ”What’s wrong honey, you don’t look like you’re feeling so good?”  He slowly started to sit up and said “Mom, I don’t feel good.”  He had just reached his knees and faced me when suddenly his whole body heaved and he threw up.  That’s when my motherly instincts must have kicked in because I dove with my hands cupped and tried to ”catch” the vomit.

Now let me ask you this . . . what person in their right mind tries to catch vomit!?!  Logically I knew that I would not be able to catch, let alone hold, a belly full of chocolate milk in my hands, but none the less I still tried.  It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

When he was finished emptying his stomach into my hands (and spraying my freshly cleansed body with vomit) I told him to stay right there and that I’d be right back.  To prevent myself from adding to the mess, I started to wash off my hands, my body and my face, when I caught sight of myself in the mirror.  There staring right back at me was a true mother.  A mother who had just done one of those weird mom things that you had only witnessed your own mother doing (like trying to catch kid vomit in her hands).

The whole time I cleaned up my sick little boy in the tub, changed the sheets on my bed and scrubbed the carpet I couldn’t stop thinking about how surreal and weird the whole thing was.  Sure my son had put me to the test before with nursing and diaper changes but those were all normal things to expect.  It’s the not so normal things.  The things you think you’ll never do, but that inevitably end up happening when you least expected them to.  Those are the things that really define you as a true mother.

So I’m curious, what was your truly defining motherly moment?  Did you find yourself doing any of those totally bazaar mom things you swore you’d never do?  If so please share by clicking on ’Read users comments’ below.  Thanks for sharing!  And happy mothering!