Mom Was Here

After another full day which has turned me into a walking zombie I stumble into my room to grab my robe and a pair of clean necessities for after my bath. I’m stopped dead in my tracks by the neatly rolled bundles that await me in my underwear drawer. I remember leaving them in a jumbled mess. “She’s been here,” I say to myself. Skeptically I slowly open my other drawers knowing I left them in complete disarray. Her mark was all over, the woman who taught me how to fold clean laundry, specifically my undergarments, has made her way into my drawers and turned a heaping mess into a happy place.

 

The woman I am talking about is my mother.  Why, you ask, is your mother touching your underwear drawer? You are after all are 28 years old, married and a mother yourself. Believe me I’ve wondered the same thing and when I ask my mom why she does it (knowing I will ruin her creation within weeks) her answer is always the same… “because I want to.”  

 

From early into my pregnancy with Mikayla my mom would randomly announce that she would love to come and watch my baby when I go back to work. Too overwhelmed with growing a human I would just reply “yeah sure” shrugging away the idea that she would actually give up her life in Indiana to help me out. After I had the baby and the decision of what to do with my career was staring me in the face I had to make a decision. I knew I could never leave my baby to go back full time unless the person who I had the most trust in the world in would watch her. That person was my mom and it was decided to have her move out to CT for the summer.

 

Mikayla giving Gram Gram a kiss

When my mom arrived in June I was an emotional roller coaster. I wasn’t ready to leave Mikayla and was unsure that corporate life was for me. My mom quietly encouraged me and with her help I made it through those first few weeks. My life was in complete chaos trying to navigate a marriage, child and job and my mom was there to support and help me through it.  

Three months of helping out turned into six. My mom and Mikayla became buddies. They had the same routine every morning... go walk into town, talk to random people, go to the diner and then go to the Library. I was able to get part time at work and even after I started that my mom stuck around helping with the baby, fixing my wardrobe, scrubbing my windows (I told her not to!) and all the while loving me in a way only a mother knows how. 

Last weekend she left to go back to Indiana. I felt as though it was the end of something very special. Throughout these past six months we have learned a lot about each other and though not always in sync we learned to communicate better. I was able to look at my mom with the eyes of a new mother and understand her love for me better than I ever have before. It is so easy to take it for granted!

Thank you mom for helping me become the strong, confident woman I am at this very moment. I love you.