My Mom Moves, Part II

August 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In today’s installment of Mom Moves, I’ll talk about some of the everyday moves I use in my Mom role.

The Striking Snake. You know this one. You see your child fall or reach for a bug to eat or pull something on top of themselves and you strike! You’re faster than a stepped-on-rattler and you save the day! Or, you try really hard to catch, prevent or move your kid or the object going into, on top of, or about to be eaten by that kid. Sometimes your Striking Snake reflexes are fast enough, and sometimes they aren’t. But in your mind? You’re always fast enough. I tend to need the Striking Snake with T more than with N.

The Poker Face. I use the Poker Face equally with each boy. With Tobin, the Poker Face is needed when he’s doing something dangerous/against the rules in the cutest freakin’ way possible. This happens a lot. And you can’t laugh, can you? Otherwise they do it over and over. With Nicholas, Poker Face is most often used when he’s being very sincere or serious and telling us a story. Sometimes it’s such an unintentionally funny story or he’s so excited telling it that I want to smile. But you can because he is serious. He. Is. Serious.

The Encourager. This one took me a while to perfect get close to being able to do consistently because I get frustrated and want to just do whatever my kids are struggling with. So, I put on my Encourager face, despite the number of times Nicholas has tried to get something cleaned up or the times when Tobin wants to put his shirt on himself. This is probably the hardest Mom Move for me because I hate to see my kids struggle.

The Bad Cop. For me, the Bad Cop move is very closely related to the Poker Face. It’s *hard* for me to be the Bad Cop. I want to make things easy for my kids, I want them to be happy and I want them to like me. I know I have to be the Bad Cop (especially when William is away), but I really hate it.

So, what are your trademark Mom Moves? Which ones do you have the most trouble with?

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My Mom Moves Part I

July 12, 2011 By 2 Comments

I have some wicked moves. Since I have had kids I have developed moves that rival the greatest martial artist. Or at least other parents. The following moves are all about soothing the baby or getting the baby to sleep (I’ll write another one about my other Ninja moves next week). Let me describe and you be the judge.

The Shuffle
I do The Shuffle every day. I break it out when the baby is almost asleep and I am trying to get him to his crib without rousing him. The key to The Shuffle is walking as smoothly as possible and you can *not* pick up your feet. Sort of like walking in to beach water so you don’t disturb sting rays.

The Two Step
The Two Step is very similar to The Shuffle, and has the same purpose. The Two Step is necessary when you have settled the baby by swaying. The Two Step extends the sway by doing a big-step-together, big-step-together combo, until you get to the crib. You must end The Two Step by continuing the sway more and more slowly until you can safely put the baby down.

The Sway
The Sway is probably my most subconscious Mom Move. I Sway even when I just see someone else swaying with a baby. I don’t even need to be holding a baby to do The Sway. The Sway may also incorporate The Bounce.

The Bounce
The Bounce is another classic. Baby on your hip and jiggle up and down. This one is best used for simple calming, not so much putting a baby to sleep.

The Deer In The Headlights
The Deer In The Headlights is a very specific move. The DITH happens when I’ve put the baby down, I believe him to be asleep, but he shifts or makes a noise as I’m still bent over from having put him in the crib. That is with you DITH. If you move while he’s stirring, even if it’s to breathe, you risk waking him and having to start all over. The DITH is a *very* important move to master.

So what are your moves?

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