It was just another Friday night, flipping through Facebook when suddenly a photo caught my eye.
“Wow, she is really happy.” was my first thought. But wait… is she in a… is it an indoor play place?
From my own personal experience, that’s not typically a place for such a big smile.
Then I read the text:
“Dear Exhausted Mother Who Fell Asleep On A Bench At "Fun 4 Kidz"...I got you. Your little girl was thirsty, I gave her water. She hit her head coming down the big purple slide, I gave her a hug. It's been an hour since you fell asleep, I won't leave 'til you wake up...hopefully rested and ready to face the weekend with the warrior-energy us mamas need to parent with a smile on our faces. ~ Mama Tara Jean”
BAM! No judgment, no sneaky photo of the sleeping Mom with a “tsk-tsk!”, just a beautiful gentle message to a total stranger. A stranger who is also a mom.
We’ve all been there. All had moments when we were so exhausted we couldn’t keep our eyes open. Sometimes we’re able to fight the exhaustion off, and sometimes it gives in.
When Mama Tara Jean wrote, “I got you.” — that summed it all up for me. That’s the connection moms have with other moms. Like a soccer team, when a player goes down and a teammate pulls her up. Sometimes a stranger from the other team will stop to put her hand out and pull her up. We’re a team and we don’t all know each other but it doesn’t matter if we do. It just matters that we’re there.
No judgment, no criticism, no frowny-faced commentary.
Just a helping hand from one mama to another.
Image source: Facebook
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