The Value of Mommy Friends

The following post is from another ARK mom. However, names have been withheld so no further cleaning will be asked of them. :)

Yesterday God taught me a very valuable lesson: the value of having mommy friends.

Last night at church we had a pot luck dinner. I really enjoy these fellowships. Seeing all the families together is always great! But I have a 2 year old – a very rambunctious 2 year old. She loves to run and play and make messes. I have a friend who also has a 2 year old – a very rambunctious 2 year old. Last night, we chose to sit together at the pot-luck and tag team our 2 year olds during the meal time. Surly 4 adults could handle 2 kids… right?

Well, we managed to keep them busy while others stood in line. (Disaster 1 adverted!)

We were a little closer to the front of the line so I offered to get my friend’s 2 year old a plate too because food always seems to calm! Besides, how in the world can you expect one of the kids to sit there and eat while the other one watches? That is just not fair! Plus the goal here is to get them BOTH eating as quickly as possible. (Disaster 2 adverted!)

Within seconds, and I mean seconds, of getting back to the table, my daughter turns over a full glass of tea. Two of the four parents who were at the table at this time, jumped right into action and we got the spill easily cleaned up. PS to the church – might need to spray and wash that table cloth! (Disaster 3 not adverted!)

So finally we get all plates and drinks and kids situated and all is going well. The kids are even sitting and eating – both of them at the same time. We breathe a little sigh of relief as we discuss the topic that seems to be most dear to our hearts these days… potty training.

OOPS! What’s that mess on the chair? Why is that chair wet? Oh no. So maybe we are not doing so great at the potty training. Daddy leaves to change child. Mommy cleans chair. (Disaster 4 not adverted but maybe no one else noticed!)

Dessert time! Let’s give them chocolate. Sure, that’s a great idea.

Finally, dinner is over. I offer to go let the kids “race” in an empty hall at the church if my mommy friend will clean up the table – and the floor – and the chairs – and basically anywhere our sweet little children have been.

The kids are having a great time “racing.” I am out of breath – but hey, neither one of us is having to drag our kids out of someone else’s plate or off the stage in the sanctuary or telling them to shhhh or the embarrassing scenarios go on and on in a mommy’s mind! (Disaster 5 adverted!)

Finally, my mommy friend comes to claim her precious little one and let me know my husband is ready to go. Her little one asks his mommy what’s sticky in the hall way. Sticky??? On the carpet??? We both look at each other and start running for our kids. STOP! No more running. She yells to her darling – “Are you muddy?” I yell to mine, “Did you poop?” Stop running! Let us check your pants. She gets to her kid first. It’s not him. I see the slight sign of relief on her face. OH NO! It’s mine. My kid didn’t just poop – its diarrhea! It’s all down her legs. (She’s wearing a cute little sun dress so her bare legs are covered in it!) It’s in her shoes. I pick her up – and it’s on me now. YUCK YUCK YUCK

Mommy friend helps keep other kids from getting in it. Daddy comes to clean up the hall way. I go to the women’s bathroom where there is a shower to hose her down. There is poop literally dripping off this child in the shower. What? NO water? It’s broke! What now? Mommy friend offers help. Go find someone to turn on the water. Someone finally comes to the rescue, but the water is broke. We clear out the men’s restroom and mommies and kid heads over there. Finally, shower works and we get the kid hosed down. Not sure at this point whether to laugh or cry!

Mommy friend checks for more poop in the floor and they get it all cleaned up. Thank goodness it’s time to go home! Don’t think I can take much more of this day.

This morning, got an email from my mommy friend first thing asking me how I was. She knows that it’s not really about the kid this morning – it’s about me.

The moral of the whole messy story… sometimes you need another mom that understands. You need moms that are where you are in life. You need mom’s that aren’t afraid to help you clean up your “muddy” child. They understand what it’s like to be pooped on, peed on, spilled on… and loved on, hugged on, and kissed on. They know the tears of being a mom – the frustrated tears, the sad tears, and the tears of joy!

God blessed me with a special mommy friend just like that – in fact, he blessed me with a couple of those special friends. My prayer for you is that you will find mommy friends like that too!

(PS - A perfect plug for our mommy’s time out each 2^nd Monday of the month. Come join us! We’ll try to save the poop stories until after we eat. Although, we are all moms and sometimes that’s our life!)