Modern Mother

I remember vividly the embarrassment and dismay as I walked from Auntie Anne's to the bench where my mother sat. The poor stranger on the bench cornered by the photo album, smiling politely, as my mom jabbered on about us.  This was the norm more often than not when we went somewhere.  My mom had an uncanny ability to find people that she didn't know and show us off through the small photo album she carried with her.  I'm guessing (though I out of embarrassment often didn't stick around to hear) that she shared the back story with every picture to every person that was kind enough to listen.

I remember as a kid wondering why on earth my mom would do that, show complete strangers pictures of us like they actually cared. Flash forward twenty years and here I am. No, I'm not likely to be found cornering an unsuspecting stranger on a bench at the mall with the pictures of my kids, but I am likely to be found oversharing pictures of them on Facebook and Instagram. 

Do I still think that my mom was a little crazy? Yes, of course, I'm pretty sure that's my job as her child and I fully expect my kids to feel the same years down the line.  But, years later, I get it. Her reasons for sharing the photo album is the same reason that I share mine in the digital era that we live in.

She did it because she loved us and we made her proud. I get that because that's exactly why I do it. I think my kids are pretty much the greatest things since sliced bread and I want to share that with almost anyone willing to listen. I do it because I hope that it will give me a chance when I'm out and about with or without them, to talk about them.  Because sharing even a little bit of them and getting to talk about them for a quick second makes me smile and my heart swell. And I tend to believe that my mom did it for the exact same reasons.

I hope that I get the quick minute when you tell me that you love to see pictures of my girls to tell you about Maui's sweet heart that beats for Jesus and her love for art. I hope to tell you about how quick and smart my Bry is and that she keeps me on my toes. I hope I get a chance to tell you about Aspen and how she always makes you feel great because she tells you how beautiful you are and that she wants to be a ballerina now and a mommy when she grows up.  And I hope that I get to tell you about Afton and how she makes me laugh with her stubborn will way more than she should and how funny she is.  It's not all encompassing, but it's enough to make me smile and share the gifts that they are.

In reality, I'm a modern mother just doing the same thing that mothers have done for years before me, but on a larger platform. That's what we do, we tell everyone that we can about how great our kids are. We love hard and share as much as we can.  Years down the line, I hope that whatever medium that my girls have, they too are just a modern mother, sharing the story of the kiddos that they love with anyone that will listen.