Blogging With Mommy

Posts Tagged ‘Girlfriends’

In the fifties, if some drama occurred, the women rallied in their kitchens bake a basket of muffins or a casserole to soften the trauma, illness, or emotional upset of a fellow mommy and her family. While the modern mom may bake something, she is more likely to seek out her superpowers and go to work. In the case of my mommies and friends, this means you throw a party.

I’ve mentioned my friend Bonnie before and how I established an online support group called Betties for Bonnie. I have also noted I am just a small part of this large community of love and friendship. Last weekend a small segment of this group whipped up two separate parties for my gal Bon. While I only attended one event, it was a testament to the modern mother.

Instead of having a bake sale, Lisa – a teacher by day – brought together a group of women to throw a party and hold a silent auction. She took over our subdivision clubhouse, threw in a band – thank you Mr. Moody – and her fellow mommies brought food and other necessities. Did Lisa have any experience in fundraising? Nope. But obviously didn’t need it because she did a great job and produced a fun night that brought in a lot of money for medical bills and insurance premiums. And quite frankly, everyone who came had a great time

While Mother Nature did not play nice with our outside event, the mommies did. They all came out in the pouring rain to show their support and have a good time with their follow moms and husbands. It was more than a great night. It was a fabulous example of the modern mom who is unafraid of taking on new challenges, walking into unchartered territory, and simply taking control of world around her.

The modern mom may not iron her husband’s shirts or make sure there is a hot meal on the table every night. What we do is rally in true Betty Rubble style. We fight cancer, we take charge, and we do take care of our Betties when needed.

After much delay throughout the summer, this technomommy decided it was finally time to join her work at home friend for an outing with the kids. Being the mom that I am, I surfed the Internet and decided we should take the kids the Henry Ford museum. After all, another technomommy suggested it.

After a mishap with the bio-dad (remember we are a nontraditional family), my daughter was unable to come with us. So much for my afternoon off playing hooky with my two kids – can I stress the number two? My three-year-old son and I head off to pick up his three-year-old girlfriend, her two older brothers, one of their friends, and my girlfriend and fellow mommy. We head down to Dearborn, Michigan for our little adventure. Misadventure I should say as all did not go as I had planned or hoped.

The museum that was supposed to be “perfect for kids” was a huge let down to the older boys. My son and his honey were just happy to be together and hang with their mommies. After a few hours of battling pent up boy energy, we call it quits. While the museum was cool, it was designed for a retired car dude and not a seven-year-old boy.

My girlfriend takes it all in stride and we head north to her house for ice cream and some outside playtime. She admits she didn’t think it was a good idea, but went with me anyway because I wanted to go. I had to remind her that technomommies are clueless and to please speak up when I am headed off a cliff as I was today.

Thankfully my girlfriend loves me no matter how out of it I am when it comes to play dates. Obviously, I have other attributes that are worthy of friendship. I am still looking for these, but I am confident I will find them eventually.

I grew up as someone who did not like to be touched, hugged, or even have their personal space encroached upon. My friend Jen changed this and did so in a patient subtle manner. When I say subtle, I mean over ten years.

I actually did not even notice it had occurred until just recently. This summer I returned to my hometown of Grayling, Michigan for a funeral and a twenty-year class reunion. At both events people commented about this noticeable change. At the funeral my beloved sister looked at me and asked how and when did it occur. I told her I could attribute the change to my friend Jen, her patience, and her continued effort to broaden my horizons. At my reunion a classmate walked up to my husband and asked him how the transformation can be pass. He laughed and said a girlfriend desensitized me. He shared this with me on our way home and when I thought about the event, I realized I voluntarily walked up to everyone I spoke with and proactively hugged each and every one of them. I would not have done that is a million years back in school.

So the moral of my story is that you too can be a hugger. While I would typically say a leopard cannot change his spots, I will say he can learn to hug freely. If needed, I can have Jen write a guest blog where she teaches the proper techniques for changing a girlfriend’s faults overtime. She is, after all, rather good at it.