Mom

Lately I've been acquiring that "mom" patina--practical clothes, practical solutions, practical life. My friends have been bemoaning all the normal changes and such of growing older, but to be honest I like my age and all the accompanying "patina." There is something nice about the way children take me on faith, and the way that people assume I'm quite competent at a variety of things. I love actually being competent at most of those things. I like knowing how to get a child to stop screaming in a grocery store, and how to ignore them with grace if they won't. I like being able to simply shift to a different tone of voice and getting results. I like knowing when something is serious and needs attention and when it's just one of those ordinary little colds or scrapes. I like having children piled all over me on the sofa while I watch Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. There is some kind of magic in motherhood that is transforming.
I prefer me today to me "back in the day." Back in the day I didn't know how to make things better, and I was too self-involved to try. Back in the day the world had to make way for my agenda and my interests. Now, I've learned that it's more interesting and more rewarding to help others with their agendas when I can. That making time to enjoy a child's homemade fairy wings and dance routines and fashion shows is more rewarding and important than almost any of the other opportunities that crowd my day.
I look like a mom, act like a mom, dress like a mom and smell like a mom, and I'm pretty sure that I've never been better.