Grown-Up Mommy Girlfriends

Grown-Up Mommy Girlfriends let you drop your kids off at their house when you have a doctor’s appointment, can’t find a babysitter or just need a break. They know when you’re about to cry, when you can’t take your children crying anymore and the best movies for a good cry. They give you extra diapers so you don’t have to run to the grocery, extra encouragement when you’re headed to your parent/teacher conference and they help you realize that just because the world’s most important job doesn’t come with a paycheck, it does come with wet, slurpy kisses, little, gooey handprints on your slightly rounder thighs and unconditional, all encompassing, “I’ll do anything for this kid,” love.

Grown-Up Mommy Girlfriends listen to your stories even when there doesn’t seem to be a point or you can’t get to the point. They don’t mind fragmented, interrupted, “never finish a complete thought” conversations. Grown-Up Mommy Girlfriends are just happy to be with you and your crew whether they’re helping you clean up the old food wrappers in your car, or the size six dresses in your closet or the grimy grout on your kitchen counters tops.

Grown-Up Mommy Girlfriends can show each other their tummy scars, trade detailed, “more information than anyone ever needed to know” labor stories and help each other save a fortune on salon treatments you can do at home. They believe that mothers really do change the world child-by-child, day-by-day and prayer-by-prayer. And most of all, Grown-Up Mommy Girlfriends make you feel better when you don’t feel very grown-up at all.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:12-13

Vacation Get-Away

Ever been totally stressed out? Have a “To Do” list longer than your life expectancy? Need a vacation? That’s me most of the time. Recently I found myself on a two-night, three-day, all-inclusive getaway. Food included, transportation to the facility, excellent service, parting gifts and a room for two.

My roommate left with stitches and a gall bladder and I received staples and an appendix. I hadn’t expected a mini-vacation to the local hospital to have unnecessary organs removed. I’m not even sure that I really needed an appendectomy. Compared to having four children, the pain’s not that bad.

But after showing up in the emergency room with a husband and four kids who thought they were on a field trip, who then proceeded to place “Get Well” stickers the nurses gave them on every piece of expensive diagnostic equipment in the hospital and play “peek-a-boo” with the screens of unexpecting, half-dressed patients, I think the surgical staff figured this lady could benefit from being put to sleep, drugged and spending a night or two away from that bunch. They were right.

Except for the pain, scar tissue, and insurance bill, I actually enjoyed myself. Do you think it’s a bit desperate to consider a trip to the hospital a vacation? My friends visited me with reading material and gifts. I did get woken every fours hours, but that’s nothing new and instead of me getting out of bed to check on crying kids, nurses were coming to check on me. I took an uninterrupted shower, talked on the phone and enjoyed a nap.

I’ve never been in the hospital before except to deliver a child, not an appendix, so I did experience this uneasy feeling of “where’s my newborn?” and every time a nurse came in my room I was anticipating it was time to breastfeed.

My husband admitted a newfound appreciation for my mommy skills, which only lasted about a week, my children were amazed that you can staple a person just like a cardboard box and the whole family was really nice to me for about three hours when I came home. And although I don’t suggest major surgery as an alternative to your dream vacation, every time I drive by the hospital I wonder if they might let me spend the night just for fun.