BrandiBlog

This past Tuesday my son and I took a little trip to the Phoenix Zoo. We met up with two other mommy friends and their little girls. It was afternoon of giraffes, monkeys, flamingos, wallabees, and, of course, the petting zoo. Ryan had his first encounter with a goat and they became immediate friends. He had a blast and was completely worn out by the time we left. Yay for naps in the car!

As I drove home I had some quiet time to myself to ponder the afternoon’s experience. Earlier when I had driven into the zoo parking lot I observed countless mini vans, SUV’s and Suburbans with mothers wrestling with strollers while juggling a baby on one hip, a toddler at her side and a diaper bag the size of Texas over her shoulder. I thought to myself with disdain, “Yuck, moms.” And then it hit me–”Oh my god, I’m one of those moms!!!!”

For many years (basically, up until last Tuesday), I would have preferred to gnaw off my own foot than spend a Tuesday afternoon at the Phoenix Zoo. I was waaaay too cool to be *gasp* one of those MOMS! In my past life I would have carried a pack of cigarettes and flask in my purse, not push a stroller and carry a diaper bag filled with toddler treats and other baby necessities. It was pretty humbling to realize that I had crossed over to the dark side.

As I stood on the bridge outside the entrance with Meredith and her daughter, waiting for our other friend to arrive, I mustered the courage to express to her what I had been feeling as I drove into the parking lot. I thought for sure I was the only woman in the world to ever feel that way. To my surprise, and relief, she said that she had thought the exact same thing! Like me, she never thought that she would be “one of those women”. I felt so much better knowing that I had an ally in my boat of denial. And somehow that helped me, knowing that I’m not the only one who struggles with this transition from “single-woman with a flask hidden in her purse” to “mommy with a juicebox in her diaperbag”. It’s comforting to know that you aren’t a complete freak.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Friends, Life, Motherhood. You can follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.