While enjoying the fabulous company of dear college friends—the BYU Babes—over the weekend in Arizona, one of them shared an experience that has not only stuck with me but is changing my parenting approach.
My friend shared that she had spent a few days prior helping her sister-in-law who had just had a baby. Her gift was to take the other children and “be the mom” while the mother rested and focused on the new baby. Beautifully, my friend said, “I put my hair in a clip, wore sweats every day, and got down on the floor and played. I was like the favorite aunt!”
Ping!
That hit me solid. How often as a mother am I the antithesis of the “favorite aunt”? It’s point and shoot, did you get your homework/chores/scout stuff done, all with the mama Nazi stance and furrowed brow? It made me realize that I need to have a day, or even a moment, of being “the favorite aunt,” if for nothing else, to remind my children that I actually do love being a mother.
So this week, consider taking off the Mother Bonnet and donning the Favorite Aunt Beret. Try NOT unloading the dishwasher or cleaning out that back closet, and instead, flopping on the floor and playing a wild game of Uno or running through the house for Ghosts in the Graveyard. Make cookies just because, even if it’s messy. Or actually—gasp—put on snow pants and go outside to make snow angels for 15 minutes.
I’m trying to do just that, enjoy small, random moments of fun. And although it’s a slow shift—being prego, everything is slow—I’m making small progress (i.e., let’s bag doing laundry today and just cuddle to a family show). Realistically, my children are likely unaware of this mental shift within me. But that will change when they come home tonight and find big mama waiting for them with the “Pit” game and a mean bowl of popcorn.
The favorite aunt has arrived.
Best,
Connie
Can’t wait to hear what their reaction was. We love taking a break after school for Uno or Candyland and a sweet treat. My son is in kindergarten. He gets these little red books he has to read 3 times before returning them to school. Some days it is down right painful. So yesterday I asked him to whisper it to me the first time he read it. Next he sat in an empty bathtub and read it to me. The third time he sat on his bed, lights off, and got out the flash light. It was a wonderful day! And then he was willing to help scrub “the kids” bathroom. He scrubbed the sink and tub. And then I let him play a little xbox Forza motorsports before his sister got home. He was so happy and helpful. And it was so much fun!
I LOVE THIS!! I so felt your feeling with the comment about reading it three times being painful, we do the same thing with our first grader, I could so relate!! Loved how you did this, thanks for sharing and keep up the great “fun mom/favorite aunt” ideas:)
Connie
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