Momma Bear

A friend of mine and I once shared a joke, 'don't make me go momma bear on you.' We were talking about the defensive feeling we have when we feel our kids were being attacked. Sometimes the momma bear is justified when they are being wrongly accused or in a hurtful situation. Sometimes the momma bear needs to lay low and let the child learn a lesson.

I remember when Noah was about 7 years old and I was still "making" him go to park days with "babies". (Those were his words and he was trying to be a big boy) I stood talking with some other mothers under the shade of a tree and watched as our kids played. It is uncanny to me the gifting God has given us mothers to hold an adult conversation without skipping a beat while keeping an eye trained on our kids at play. As I was watching Noah dive bomb off the top of play structures and zip down the slides, I saw him stop and walk up to a little friend of ours who was probably 3 years old at the time. He had his hands behind his back and said, "Sally, (name changed to protect the innocent) close your eyes and open your mouth." Sally did just as she was told and before I could intervene, Noah dropped a handful of sand in her mouth. {Gasp} Yes, we all gasped. Sally cried. And, Noah turned around and had that busted yet bold and defiant look on his face. My heart sank. No one was outright in their admonishment of my son but, it was clear they were all surprised and disappointed and expected some form of punishment. Suddenly, the momma bear in me kicked in and I jumped to Noah's defense. It was as if I were rescuing him from vultures. 'How dare you judge my son?' I thought to myself. I made a hasty exit and assured everyone I would discipline him at home.

I laugh as I tell the story now but, I really learned a lot about myself that day. 1) I tend to get very defensive about my kids 2) Sometimes I put too much importance on what people think and 3) I better train this boy! Of course there are positives and negatives to each of those things and I think it will be an on-going struggle for balance in my parenting.

Also, I share that story to let you in on something else. Noah knows I share that experience and we laugh about it. In fact, anything you read on this blog will be discussed with my children beforehand. I want to be as careful and cautious as possible and not just throw my kids "under the bus."

This week, I have had the privilege of enjoying lunch with girlfriends who are parenting teens. After much discussion about each of our kids and their struggles and victories in life, I realized we all have one thing in common: We momma bears want the very best for our kids.