Friday, July 26, 2013

A Good Mom

I mentioned that we took one of Alyssa’s friends with us to Cedar Point this year. I really like this friend. She’s a lot like Alyssa. She talks when she has something to say but she’s not a know-it-all or an attention hog like I feared a lot of ten year olds can be.

She was a great addition to our little travelling group.

Her mom, though, is even more awesome. This mom could give tips on how to be a good mom and a good fellow mom when it comes to sending your kid on a trip with other people who are not family.

That last sentence is rough. Yikes. But let me explain.

When T and her mom got to our house on Monday night, T had her stuff in her duffel bag, as one would expect. Her mom handed me two smaller bags. In these bags were drinks and snacks that T’s mom knew T liked.

How cool is that? I wonder if I’d have thought to do that if Alyssa were going somewhere overnight with T and her mom. I can’t be sure I would. I would like to think I would from this point forward, though.

I had already bought a lot of snacks and drinks and I was hoping that I’d found something, anything that T would like. I love that T’s mom took it upon herself to make sure that daughter has something she liked on the trip.

Because we’d invited T to join us, I paid for her ticket and told her mom to just send some money with T for souvenirs. After I’d put T’s drinks in the refrigerator, her mom handed me some cash. I tried to tell her it wasn’t necessary but she said she really wanted to contributed and she didn’t trust her ten year old to hold the cash herself. She said that whatever T didn’t spend on souvenirs could go toward the meals I’d be providing for her in the next two and a half days.

I didn’t expect money. I didn’t want her to have to contribute at all but I could tell it was more important to her that she give us something that I took it. Then, when it came time for the girls to pick out souvenirs (stuffed dogs for A and T and a bracelet for O.) I felt pretty good about letting them all pick out exactly what they wanted instead of T having to count her money and figure out if she could afford it. It was fun for us all to just browse without worrying about cash flow.

I’m sure it goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyway, huh?) but I really like T and I like her mom. I feel like Alyssa got really lucky (smart?) when she and T became friends. I feel like I got REALLY lucky that the girls Alyssa likes so much has a mom that I feel like I’ve connected with, even just enough to exchange these girls who I hope are friends for years to come.

I hope to learn even more from T’s mom in how to be a good mom friend as both A and O continue to make friends and bring new people into our lives.

1 comment:

Julie said...

I think we all have "good mom" traits that other parents envy. You are so giving to your girls, whereas I often feel snappish and impatient.