Becoming a Mom – or what Ellie thinks I do…

Last night, when I picked up Ellie from the nursery following Ash Wednesday service, she and her buddy Kore were deeply engrossed in a game of make believe.  Kore was feeding a bottle to a doll wrapped up in his arms, while Ellie was flying around the room telling him what to do.  {Typical}

Once in the car, she announced, “Mom, you kiss when you get married!”

“That’s right, you do kiss when you get married.  Do you want to get married someday?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she responded with a twang, “I think I’m gonna marry Kore!”

“Ahhh..” I thought, “she’s moved onto the more age appropriate brother.” So I asked, “What happened to Xander?”

“Mom, he’s just a little bit scary.  I’m going to marry Kore instead and we’ll get a baby.  A girl baby.”

A baby, she said, that would be named “Ann-Lee”.  And Kore would just “go to work at his office and work on his kid computer all day” and she would “be the mommy and take care of everybody”.  Previously, she had career ambitions of being a firefighter, so I was surprised to hear this change in plans.

“Awesome, Ellie.  What kind of things will you do as a Mommy?” I asked wondering if she was even remotely aware of what I do.

“I’ll be just like you, Mommy.  I’ll just sweep the kitchen & cook dinner.”

Huh.  Is that all?  I thought, “what about the walks we take, the books we read, the clothes I wash, the house I clean, the hugs I give, all the other meals I prepare, the tickling, the puzzle making, block building, Barbie dressing, the band-aids I apply, library visits, scoops of ice cream I dip…”

“You know, Ellie, even when you’re a mom you can still do lots of cool things.”

“Yeah, Mom.  But YOU, you mop.”

Someday, Sweet Girl of mine… I will remind you of this conversation the year that your daughter Ann-Lee is three.  Until then, I suppose I should find a way to clean less & play more.  Life’s too short.