This Day and Age :: The Mind of a Mom with a Child in School

He is four.

Correction: four-and-a-half.

The half is important. Never forget the half.

I am watching him watch television.

He laughs. I never want to forget his four-and-a-half laugh.

It cackles. It delights.

He is bright.

He catches me and gives me a wink.

Cheeky boy, I think.

 

I think.

 

I think about him all the time.

When did he get so big?

He started elementary school this year.

There’s been joy. There’s been adjustment. There’s been fear.

 Fear of me not being there. Fear of letting go.

Fear of not fitting in. Fear of social woe.

Fear of hurricanes. Fear of floods from open skies.

Fear of scary stuff. Fear of bad guys.

 

Bad guys.

The Green Power Ranger…

He put him at the foot of my bed one night to protect me from bad guys.

But the bad guys he knows aren’t the ones I think about,

The ones I worry about –

the ones who bully, harm, and shoot.

 

 I worry.

 

I worry about him all the time. 

When you have kids, they really don’t warn you enough about the worrying.

How, even when you try your hardest to push bad thoughts behind,

From time to time, the “mights” creep through your mind.

Mine are the people who might harm my kid,

The ways he might veer off track,

The ways I might fail my child,

The things that can’t be taken back.

 

So I pray.

 

I pray for him all the time.

To God. To the stars. To fate.

Please keep him safe. Please treat him well.

Please don’t let him be a warning story they tell,

Of the kid in the wrong place, of the kid at the wrong time,

Of the kid who was broken down, or of the kid who wasn’t kind.

And when I am not beside him,

please let him recognize that he is loved.

Let him know in every moment,

 With every fiber of his being that he is loved

From his freckled nose to his dirty, little toes.

And let him live with love, and treat others with love,

And just love.

 

A mother’s mind…

A mother’s mind is a busy place.

I love being a mom,

but I do not love worrying like one.

 

Marie
Marie is the owner of Little Hometown, a company specializing in locally themed baby swaddles and apparel. Prior to opening her business, Marie was a professional event planner turned stay-at-home mom. She spent nearly a decade living in New York City, where she met her husband, Jeff (a New England native). Early in their relationship, Marie told Jeff that New Orleans is the only place where she would want to raise her children. As soon as she got pregnant, they started shopping for houses. They moved back in December of 2012, welcomed their son in 2013 and their daughter in 2015. Marie now spends her days entertaining her kids with silly songs, desperately attempting to stay organized, and balance her life as a work-at-home mom.

3 COMMENTS

  1. That was beautiful. I know exactly how you feel. I felt it when my daughter was young. However in today’s world a Mom has so much more to worry about. Keep praying and doing the great job that you do. I’m sure he’ll grow up fine and some day have his own kids to worry about.

  2. Beautifully written and so very true. I went through that with all of my kids and it hasn’t stopped, even though they’re now in their 30’s! Not only is the worry still going strong, it was multiplied by the teenager I am blessed to be raising and each grandchild I was blessed to receive. The worry never stops but the love, joy, hope and faith will get you through.

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