Being mothered by my daughter

August 5, 2007 by Barbara.

I’m like many parents who open their mouths and hear the words of their parents coming out. I haven’t said, “If you break your leg, don’t coming crying me.” Yet. But I’ve thought of it. There have been other things, good and goofy that I know my mom and dad used to say to me that I’ve heard myself saying to Reid over the last three years.

This morning, Reid and I were playing before we got out of bed and she was the mama and I was the baby. Babies cry a lot in Reid’s games. She never cried that much (thank goodness) as a baby but I try to play by the rules. I was crying and Reid said, “It’s okay, baby, Mama’s here.” That’s the first thing I say to her when I walk into her room if she is crying in the night. She rubbed my back and said shushed me in the gentlest tone. Then, she put the soother in my mouth. Reid loves the soother and sees it as the panacea for whatever ails a baby. It’s ironic, really, since she wasn’t a soother baby. I flipped the soother upside down a few times. Each time, Reid turned it right side up. By the last time, she righted it rather forcefully.

Finally, Reid gave me CareB and said that I should go to sleep. Just like that. As though the number of times that she has gone to sleep at home without being nursed in three years wasn’t fewer than 20 (probably 10)! When I pointed this fact out, she agreed that I might need to nurse. Reid cuddled me close and told me to nurse CareB, too. I asked if she remembered when she used to “nurse” Winnie Pooh or a baby doll while I nursed her. Reid smiled a big smile. I’m not sure if that meant she did remember or if she thought it was too silly to believe.

Reid is a good little Mama. A baby could do much worse.

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