Work it Momma

One of the great hazards of life as a full time SAHM is the isolation from other adults in your day-to-day happenings.  Often times mothers don’t even realize how isolated they’ve become until they try to interact with other adults and find themselves completely out of practice!  Eventually there are enough activities and errands that involve interacting with the world that every SAHM is able to reintegrate, but for my part, I still catch myself sometimes doing very very strange things that are a product of my little baby bubble.

Next time you go to the grocery store, pay attention to the mothers with infants.  You might find that they are talking to their babies, asking their infant, “should mommy get pears or do you want peaches today baby?”  Or even worse, “don’t let mommy forget to buy toilet paper, okay muffin?”  I mean, obviously the child cannot respond or even marginally engage in the conversation mommy is having with herself, but in the grocery store setting it actually seems pretty normal.  Take it beyond the grocery store though, and, well . . .

I was in line at Chipotle after a morning of running errands with Thomas when, without even realizing it, I was asking Thomas’ advice on what I should order.  As I asked him, “What do you think, should I get a bowl or just go ahead and get a burrito?” a teenager standing in front of me in line asked me, “Excuse me, are you talking to me?”

I turned bright red and completely unable to explain simply responded, “uh, no. Sorry.”

The kid was being polite, not rude – it just didn’t seem to occur to him that I would be carrying on a one-sided conversation with an infant.  And why should it?  Thomas doesn’t want to talk about burrito or bowl, he just wants to slobber on my car keys and throw things from his stroller.  It is actually quite obvious that it is weird to be talking to him, but I didn’t even realize I was doing it!!!”

So I called my friend Emma and I made a lunch date with her and her baby girl.  You see, lunching with the ladies isn’t just about catching up with friends, it is about keeping yourself sane!  And should Emma and I find ourselves talking to our respective infants, well, at least she won’t think I am crazy!

--Victoria