L is for Lunatic....the BEST kind of mom

A few days ago, I had one of those crazed mother incidences.  It wasn’t until my friend overheard the comment of an onlooker and shared it with me that I realized I even had the incident.  And my first reaction was shame that I had been THAT mom that had caused a scene.  We were at the outdoor community pool when a thunderstorm rolled in, which resulted in a pool closure and mass exodus of swimmers.  My friend and I herded our little troop of boys to our cars at the end of the parking lot.  I opened the passenger door so my boys could climb in, and then headed to the back to load all the pool gear into the liftgate.  I could see two little blonde heads, but not the third.  Cars were backing out and zooming to the exit at what my mommy-missing-one-boy-mind processed as speeds common in the Daytona 500.  And that’s when I lost it.  I started screaming for the missing blonde head, “Jacob!  Jacob! Jacob!”  I was sure he had turned the parking lot into his own personal maze—HE is my child who would think a real, live game of Frogger great fun!  After about 15 seconds of acting a total fool, Jacob popped his head out of the car and said, “I’m here mom!”  Well thank you Jesus….and next time answer me the first time I call your name with the lunatic tone in my voice!  

So an onlooker (with no children in tow), witnessed this scene and said in a sarcastic voice, “Good luck with that…mom with three kids!”  I so appreciate her words of concern and encouragement.  And wish her the best if and when she decides to jump in the pool of motherhood.  Yes, my first reaction was to feel shame.  But it wasn’t long before I was bursting with pride at 1) having taken my brood of three non-swimming boys to the pool on my own and 2) for turning into a mama bear when I thought the well-being of one of my cubs was at stake.  I have convinced myself that acting like a lunatic that day was a sure sign that I’m a great mom.  Cue cheers, applause, and a skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks.  And the next time I see a woman acting like a lunatic for the sake of her offspring, I just might give her a hug and high five.  We lunatics have to stick together:-).