The Mom Gear

“Can you watch the kids for a few days?”, my eldest daughter asks.  “We have a wedding to go to and then I can get ready for Riley’s 4th birthday party.  I will bring them out to you (about a 3-hour drive) and then you can bring them back for the birthday party.”  “Of course!”, I say, “That will be fun!”

Never mind that they had never stayed the night at my house without mommy before and that my youngest left at home is a Junior in high school.  Never mind that I’ve gotten used to actually sleeping through the night and have been spoiled about having most of my time as my own.  Never mind that I rarely change poopy diapers or have to keep “mimi’s”, “b-b’s”,  and “mina’s” definitions straight.

Now, don’t get me wrong…I absolutely adore my grand babies.  They are super cute, loaded with energy and say the funniest things I’ve ever heard.  They are fascinated by the littlest things, call big rocks volcanoes, know how to make my youngest dog do tricks on the walking bridge by our house, and save roly-poly’s by picking them up and putting them on trees.

They finish a huge breakfast eating waffles, bananas, strawberries, and some dry cold cereal to boot and walk away only to be back 15-20 minutes later telling me they are hungry. They dump the entire toy basket out and put it all back at least 5 times a day and that doesn’t count the other two where I put them away for them.

After two days I remembered what it was like to have the extra “mom gear”.  The Mom Gear is only available to moms of young children when they need it.  It’s like a super power that can only be called on when it’s needed.  It’s something akin to the mom’s having an extra pair of eyes in the back of their head.  It keeps you moving when you’ve been up several times a night to a child needing their “mina-mina” (which is a drink to my 2-year old grandson), their “b-b” which is their pacifier, or their “mimi” which is their blanket that they can’t sleep without.

It’s the extra gear you find when you’ve already run 4 loads of laundry that day, but then you forgot to put the 4-year old in a diaper for her nap and she peed during her sleep so you have to do one more load and then scrub the bed.  It’s the extra gear that gives you patience when something you have owned for a very long time gets broken from curious little hands and makes you realize that the kids are far more important than whatever it is that broke.

I was ever so grateful that as a Gram who had not been in this situation for quite a long time still had her “Mom Gear” well intact somewhere in the depths her being.  Today, I am grateful to be in the stage of life that I’m in, but I am even more grateful to all of you mom’s like my oldest daughter who possess the “Mom Gear”.  You are incredible.  You are making a difference in this world with every smile, every load of laundry, ever meal prepared, every errand run, every time you’ve had to call on the strength of God for more patience.

You young moms rock!  This is a shout-out to all of you, but a special shout out to my eldest daughter, Erica.  You are a beautiful, caring, loving mother.  I am so proud of how you are raising these beautiful grand babies of mine.  You matter.  You rock.  I love you, period.