Sarah Mothers

When it comes to momma-ing, no one does it better, or more incessantly, than my Sarah. Mommies and babies (and sometimes daddies) are her Favorite Thing. The other evening, we watched The Land Before Time [please appreciate that I am refraining from a HUGE rabbit trail down memory lane concerning that movie], and she was absolutely googly-eyed over the first scene with all the baby dinosaurs and their families, repeatedly trilling, "Der's the Mommy Di-no-saur! And der's the Baaaaaay-by!" I thought she might start crying, she was so happy.

Before Sarah was born, I wondered what I'd ever do with the zillions of stuffed animals that people had given us for Luke. He has a very close relationship with the teddy bear that he received from Grandad and DD one year, but he never ever, ever interacted with any of the others. I began to think that maybe kids didn't play with stuffed animals after all.... And then there was Sarah. Trust me, she has more than made up for Luke's disinterest. Not only does she play with them, but she rotates through them - as if to make sure every single one has a chance to be the Special Playmate of the Day (I told you, she's a definite I'm-gonna-be-a-momma-one-day type).

Recently, Sarah has discovered and taken fondly to "Baby Bear," a small beanie-baby bear dressed like Ronald McDonald (I know: it is so very, very strange; I'm learning that kids' toys often are). Anyway, the Bear went missing one naptime, and we almost had a total meltdown as a result. A day later, it was recovered, and I think that their relationship may be deeper as a result of the time apart.... Yesterday at bedtime, as I was laying next to Sarah and trying to get her settled in to sleep, she had Baby Bear and was prancing him around on the blankets, murmuring in Baby Bear's high-pitched voice, "Momma, Momma, where are you?" [This was not directed to me, by the way, but to Baby Bear's Momma. Naturally.] "Where are you, Momma? Oh, Maaaaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaa! Oh, there you are! I found you! Let's go, Momma..." 

Sarah sees Mommies and Babies everywhere. As long as there are two objects of the same kind, and one is smaller than the other, it's a mommy and a baby. Naturally, she's paired up all the mommy-baby stuffed animals that we own - dogs, elephants, rabbits, bears, actual baby dolls... But then there's a Mommy Grape and Baby Grape, too, and also a Mommy Fork and a Baby Fork, and maybe a Mommy Tree and Baby Tree. One time when Gram was holding her, Sarah pointed to the little round embellishment's on Gram's blouse, saying, "Mommy... Baby!" 

One evening, Sarah was beside me on the couch, and I was reading (something very important and intellectual, I'm sure). I suddenly became aware of her patting my back and murmuring, "It's okay, Baby, I loooooove you..." Then she pressed her cheek up against mine and giggled, and it dawned on me that I had become the baby. This was entirely new, and a little unsettling, but I'll tell you one thing: she's a gentle and sweet Mommy, that Sarah is. Those stuffed animals and baby dolls - and grapes and forks and trees - are lucky to have her. 

And so are we.