The Mothering Daughters Experience: A guest post from Samantha

 Samantha is the creative mind behind the blog Crafty Texas Girls.  She is a stay at home momma to two precious daughters, and wife to a great guy that adores the women in his life.  Read along as Samantha tells a story that we all have experienced, and then click over to her blog to say hello.

Oh the mother- daughter experience! Is it okay if mine starts off with tears at Chick-fil-a? I have two young daughters, Afton who is 5 and Maisy who is almost 2. They are the light of my life. Sometimes it seems like my heart is walking around outside my body. When I tuck them into bed at night, I am always happy for a break. But within an hour I am on the computer looking at their photos and blogging about them!

So today after a pretty smooth shopping trip to Ikea, I was persuaded (aren’t 5 year olds clever!) to take my girls to Chick-fil-A for lunch. Immediately my toddler refused the high chair. So we settled into a booth and I quickly cut up nuggets and fruit into bitty bites.

For maybe five minutes we ate and then the fun began. Maisy used the booth as a trampoline jumping up and down. No problem- it’s a fast food restaurant. Then she started patting the woman’s head behind us. A bit of problem- her fingers were covered with ketchup and the woman was not amused. All the while I am using my sweet, calm mommy voice and trying to keep the meal enjoyable for Afton. I try to get Maisy to sit down- she screams and arches her back. We’ve reached the official ‘problem’ status. Finally I manage to pull her onto my lap.

Quick as a wink, she grabs my salad bowl and throws it into the air. I think the lettuce was actually flying in slow motion, hurling itself on my face, lap and every surface within 5 feet of our table. I look across the table at Afton, her eyes are like saucers and she has her hands covering her mouth. We both stare at each other for a minute before breaking into a fit of giggles. Maisy laughs too and then goes back to jumping on the seat. Suddenly, my laughter turns into tears. Prickly, hot tears. No matter how calm and collected I try to be, here I am crying at Chick-fil-A! Before Afton can spy them, I wipe the tears from my face, clean the table, and take the girls to the play area. This mothering gig is not for wimps!

My relationship with my girls is amazing. It is so intense, passionate, and unique. I feel like ‘Marmie’ from Little Women. I am blessed with these wonderful daughters. They are my sun, my moon, my world. But with that comes so much emotion- love and joy peppered with fear and anguish.

Last week my girls and I watched with wonder as a baby cardinal jumped out of its nest for the first time. The mother bird hovered and squawked, trying to instruct her baby how to fly. Of course this baby bird, had ideas of her own. She was hopping around the yard, clearly disregarding her mother’s instructions. Eventually the baby bird flapped a bit and made it to the top of a bush.

We went inside to play Barbies, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that bird and her mother. I felt we were kindred spirits. No matter how much preparation, care, and good intentions we have- our children are determined to jump out of the nest. They want to try their wings and explore the world on their own terms.

Whether it is a two year old testing the waters of independence or a teenager trying to find her place in the world, we mothers can feel so helpless. Aside from locking them in their rooms forever, we cannot control our children or the choices they make. We must simply do our best. Teach them with love and grace, and hope that one day, they will find our words hidden somewhere in their hearts.

And until then, when you see a mother out in the world, covered in lettuce or hovering and squawking- just smile and say a prayer. Because when your heart is walking around outside of your body, sometimes you shed a tear.

If you would like to tell us the story of your Mothering Daughters Experience,  send me an email at playingsublimely@yahoo.com, I would love to hear from you!  If you would like to simply subscribe to Playing Sublimely and have all posts delivered to your inbox, click here, or go to the top right hand side of this page and enter your email address.