She Called Me "Super Mom"
Talitha Sherman
Gardena CA USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 20 No. 6, November-December 2003, pp. 217
My four-year-old, Sadie,
loves dinosaurs. Her favorite is the Stegosaurus, but the Parasaurolophus
is a close second. Of course, the best one to pretend to be is the T
Rex. How else would you chase down and pretend to eat your papa-saurus?
Last year, Sadie and I took
a summer camp class on dinosaurs at the local museum. Parents are expected
to attend with preschoolers. I learned a lot and would have had fun
if not for being in the throes of morning sickness. Nonetheless, she
had a great time and couldn't wait to do it again.
Fast forward to this summer.
The big week arrived and we were off to the museum for two hours every
day for a week. Only this time, I was wearing baby sister Hazel in a
sling. We toured the museum halls, followed the teacher to different
exhibits, colored, made our own tar to capture and overwhelm helpless
Ice Age mammals, and so much more. Through it all, I cared for my baby.
This seemed very natural to me since I am used to being around other
LLL mothers.
Some of the mothers in the
class kept remarking on how happy, good-natured, quiet, and (of course)
cute Hazel was. Several of them told me they wished they had a sling,
because it made carrying a baby around look so easy. Three mothers told
me their babies were at home with sitters-they seemed to be the ones
who came by us the most to "coo" at Hazel and say how much
they missed their little ones. I wish I could have given them slings
and reassurance that it is not only practical, but desirable to keep
their babies close to them.
One mother, watching me cut
out a Dire Wolf mask while balancing Hazel on my knee said, "You
must be Super Mom." I wish! The truth is, I'm no better or worse
than the next mother. I'm so grateful to all the other mothers at LLL
meetings who taught me about attachment parenting. If I didn't know
how important and fun breastfeeding and wearing my baby could be, I
might have been one of the mothers wondering how to meet my baby's needs
without neglecting the older child. Instead, I was able to keep Hazel
fed and happy, and Sadie has added Harlan's Ground Sloth to her list
of prehistoric favorites.
Last updated Tuesday, October 24, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:47 UTC 2007.
