ALL I’M TRYING TO DO IS WASH HIS FACE! by Elizabeth Spencer MOM T THE RESCUE
Hello, young mom in the grocery store bathroom with her howling toddler who told me, “I promise! All I’m trying to do is wash his face!” Oh, mama. I have been there and done that...and worse, including the truly heinous act of trying to wipe my child’s runny nose. So, I was not for one second thinking you were doing anything wrong. But here’s what I was thinking and what I often think about young moms these days, now that I’ve reached the age and stage of motherhood where I refer to moms with less mileage than I’ve got on me as “young moms these days.” (And by the way, since I’m sure I’m not the only older mom who thinks this way, feel free to go ahead and share this with your mom tribe.) I think your wailing child is adorable and under- standably averse to having his face washed and that you are lovely and understandably in favor of it. I think you are more patient and relaxed on your worst day as a mom of littles than I ever was on my best. I think you are creative and engaged with your child in a way that shows how much you value them. I think you are making a big deal of the things that really matter and letting the things that don’t slide and—here’s the kicker—nailing which is which. I think you are managing a zillion details while still keeping sight of the big picture.
I think you don’t necessarily think you’re doing any of this and that “if only I knew” what you were really like as a mom, I’d think differently. But I’m standing by my story, because the parts of you as a mom I can see may not be all of who you are as a mom, but they’re still real. They may not be the whole story, but they’re still a true story. So I only hope you can believe what I think most of all when I walk into a bathroom where I know right away all you’re trying to do is wipe the face of a child who’s having none of it: I think you two are blessed to have each other.
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DECEMBER 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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