I sometimes reminisce about my pre-baby days. Not in a longing way; I wouldn’t trade my girls for the world. It’s more of an analytical reminiscence. I remember that being weird was the last thing I wanted to be. I’d see moms doing all these crazy things, and I’d laugh to myself and promise that I’d never be that mom.
You know what I mean. I bet if you think back then you, too, will remember having similar thoughts. And now here I am, two babies later, fully immersed in the weird sisterhood of motherhood and loving it. But, just for kicks and giggles, let’s remember a few of those things that all moms do that are kinda weird if we’re perfectly honest about it.
The Mommy jiggle- You know the one I mean. It’s like the grown-up version of the pee dance except the end goal isn’t to avoid peeing in a public bathroom without wetting your pants. Now we do it to shush a crying baby and/or keep a sleeping baby asleep. The weird part is that we can’t stop doing it even after we’ve laid the baby down. The extra weird part is that we do it just because we see another mom holding a baby which leads me to believe that once you become a mommy jiggler, you remain a mommy jiggler for life.
Using our feet for tasks feet were never meant to do- When your hands are full of baby you do whatever it takes to accomplish even the smallest of tasks. This means that we become adept at using our feet for the strangest of things from picking up stray items from the floor to opening and closing drawers and cabinets. I’ve even kicked items into the room where they belong, used my feet to open the drawer/cabinet where said items live, and then used my toes to pick them up and put them in their proper drawer/cabinet. I know. It’s weird.
Turning everything into a song- If you’ve ever wondered what life would be like in a musical just have a baby. From the clean up song to cooking a meal to bath-time to getting dressed to going on a walk to….you name it, it can be sung. And, depending on your song writing abilities, it can probably call for a small dance routine, too, because anything that makes your child laugh is likely worth doing again and again and again and again and….
Turning everything into a learning opportunity- It may have started with the simplest of questions or observations, but I guarantee it can be turned into a small lesson on something. Example, my almost-two-year-old pointed out a flower on our walk the other day, and I launched into a long spiel about spring and the changing seasons. She’s not even two, and she quickly shut me down by pointed out something else that captured her attention much better than my lesson on how the world works. But, what can I say? Sometimes the need for a semi-adult conversation outweighs my logic in choosing a conversation topic with my toddler.
Sniffing butts- Think your child might have a poopy diaper? Moms don’t hesitate to pick up said child and take a big ‘ol whiff of their rear. And it’s weird. And we all do it. We could, ya know, just go ahead and change their diaper. This would be a quick and easy way to confirm whether or not our child has, in fact, pooped, but no. In a small survey, 10 out of 10 moms chose the butt-sniff method of confirming or denying the presence of poo in a diaper.
There are countless other examples that further prove what we all know to be true. Moms are weird. Or, maybe, at the end of the day we just love our kids so much that we don’t really care what it looks like to anyone else. So, carry on, my fellow weirdos. Because I’d be willing to bet that you’re an awesome momma.