You’re a Gooood Mama!

I was a new mama to a sweet baby girl and wanted to be the very best mommy I could be. I wasn’t ever looking for compliments, just maybe a little encouragement. I remember walking into church one evening with a blanket wrapped around my baby when an approaching woman wearing a concerned expression commented, “Honey, you’ve got that baby too warm in that blanket!” I slid the blanket off my little one, tucked it into the diaper bag, and walked into the auditorium.

As I was making my way to a pew, I started to pass another lady, this one displaying a warm smile. ‘Ahh, a friendly face. This will be encouraging!”, I thought to myself. As we exchanged pleasantries, she wrapped her hand around my baby’s exposed leg (which had previously been covered by the blanket) and said, “Oh, the poor thing! Her little legs are bare. She’ll freeze!” Rather than defend myself, I quickly sat in my pew and fought back the tears.

“I’ve failed again! I just can’t get this mothering thing right!”

This was the familiar rebuke I gave myself day after day in this early season of motherhood. I know I should not have let others’ unsolicited critiques pull me down and make me doubt my capabilities in my role as a mommy, but I did.

Another year or so later when that baby girl was a toddler, I took her to the mall to have her photo taken with the Easter Bunny. As I was standing in line, I glanced up and noticed my husband’s grandparents (affectionately known as “Nonie and Pa”) across the way. It was a habit of theirs to take their morning walk inside the mall several days a week and my little one and I happened to be there at the same time they were making their laps. I waved them down and they came over to speak and love on their great-granddaughter.

“Are you going to see the Easter Bunny?”, they cooed with her. “Tell him what a sweet girl you’ve been!”

After chatting for another minute, they decided to resume their walk. But before turning away, Nonie gave me a squeeze on the arm and said, “You’re a gooood mama!”

Oh, I just about burst into tears! I was a good mama? Me? Just for taking my little girl to see the Easter Bunny?

Yes! According to Nonie, I was a good mama….just for taking her to see the Easter Bunny! Now, I knew that Nonie certainly wasn’t claiming I was exemplary in every aspect of mothering. But the encouragement gave me a glimmer of hope that day and helped me realize that even though my best efforts were full of errors and mistakes, and I would never be a perfect mom, the little things still meant something.

And that very day I decided that when I was an older woman, I was going to always tell other mothers what good mamas they are! Well, I’m an older woman now (ha-ha!) and I love doing just that, whether I know them or not. I love when I see a mama in a store, struggling to wrangle kiddos, and I just lean in and whisper that encouragement to her. I know she probably needs to hear it so badly.

So, to all of you who spend your days with your kiddos, cleaning up the spills, serving the snacks, singing the songs, tying the shoes, pushing the swing, making the crafts, teaching the lessons, sitting in the bleachers, cooking the meals, sharing the Bible, praying the prayers, and, YES, taking them to see the Easter Bunny, I’m giving you a squeeze on the arm and saying….

You’re a gooooood mama!

I hope each of you sweet mamas has a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend! And to those of you who aren’t mothers, I have a little post of encouragement for you tomorrow. I hope you’ll come back.