Thursday, February 18, 2010

Duh, Mom



This picture scares the bejesus out of me. To understand why, fast forward about 12 years...

Me: "No, Claire, you can't go to the mall alone with your friends."

Claire: "Ugh! Like, why not??"

Me: "Because you are too young. I'd be happy to go with you though."

Claire: *Eye roll*

And there it is. Followed by the foot stomp, the high pitched whine and the slammed door. Except I have it times two. Let's take a moment to let that sink in. Not one, but TWO adolescent girls with attitudes from here to Alabama and back.

In this future scenario, I close my eyes, sigh, and wonder what happened to those sweet little girls who were in awe of their mother.

I like to think that Scott and I will make good parents. We're a good balance of laid back and boundaries. But I know it will come. There isn't a girl on this planet that didn't have moments when she thought her parents were idiots. And we have it times two.

How do you prepare for those moments? How do you brace yourself for the rejection that will inevitably happen?

I don't know the answer to that yet, but I do know this. Every time Grace is fussy at 2 a.m., I will not dread getting up. Every time Claire wants to lay in my arms and sway back and forth, I will not dread standing. Every time Grace takes an hour to eat, I will not dread being late. Every time Claire cries for her Mama, I will not dread shutting the computer and putting off this blog.

I will take these moments and store them away for a time later in life when I will need to rewind and remember how sweet these little girls are. A time when an eye roll and a foot stomp might make me forget.

And 12 years from now, as I'm standing with my eyes closed, I will be playing back these moments — these beautiful, heartwarming moments — when my little girls thought their Mom was, like, the best thing ever.

2 comments:

April said...

I have seen Scott give his mother that very look.

Amy said...

Oh Katie, nicely said. Doesn't it seem like yesterday that WE were those teenage girls rolling our eyes at our Mom's cause they wouldn't let us spend the night at each others houses? It is hard to cherish these moments with our children when we are exhausted and at our wits end. One day we WILL want these days back, thanks for reminding me :) PS-love your blog