Mommin' It Up

For years, I've hidden behind my physical health and limitations, using them as reasons to not participate in physical activities, particularly ones that might draw attention to myself.  Such things are also completely against my introverted nature.  Nor do they really fit in with my fears of failure or looking ridiculous, or my poor self esteem. I've developed a myriad of excuses, while secretly yearning from the proverbial sidelines to be part of the fun, to be brave enough to be right in the middle of it.

For the sake of my children, and the example I need to set for them, I've been desperately trying to get myself out of those mindsets.  My kids need to see me taking risks, having fun, and breaking out of my comfort zones.  In terms of physical activities, yes, they will most likely result in a flare, but my kids need to see that some things are worth it, and holding back is not worth it.  I have allowed my fears and physical limitations and pain to rule my life, and it's time to put a stop to it.

And so, opportunity presented itself.....  In the form of our church's tug of war competition.

And, after consulting the other moms in our mom's group, I signed us up as one of the teams.

Now, I have to explain to you--the other teams have been duking it out for several years.  They are hardcore, and this is serious business.  There's even a trophy for the winning team.   A very large trophy.  And there's lots of trash talk between the teams.  As it was explained to me later, this is tug of WAR, not tug of FUN (it was also suggested my misunderstanding of this point was the reason we lost).

The other moms and I agreed--we needed to do this for our kids.  To have fun with it, even knowing we would most definitely lose, we still needed to do this. We got together and made plans.  Big plans.  Plans to completely 'mom up' the competition.

My husband even wrote a speech for us, a la Mel Gibson's Braveheart character:
"Moms of The Bridge!  I see a whole army of my God loving, breast feeding, co-sleeping, child-rearing, God loving compatriots here in defiance of dirty diapers and runny noses!  You've come to play a game of tug of war without children pulling at your leg, and play tug of war you will!  We are here to tell our children that they may take our sanity, but they will never take our lattes!"


We took the field in our team 'uniform'--handmade "super mom" shirts, aprons, oven mitts and Ergos with dolls in them.  I even put on face paint!  And the other teams took the field in back braces, cleats, gloves, strategies,  and very, very serious game faces.  Did I explain that the other teams are diehard competitors and take this very seriously?  I'm not kidding when I say the gentleman I was facing scared me just a little.  That's when I lost my nerve with the Braveheart speech, and just about everything else.  As our pregnant teammate offered cookies to the opposing team, the match began--and ended just as quickly.  Yes, we lost.  And we did so epically.  Our second match lasted a little longer, but we eventually lost to the children without even trying to lose to them.

But.  We.  Had.  Fun.

And it's an afternoon our children will not soon forget (I'm actually hoping it's something my own children tell their children about...).  Personally, I'm still riding the high of our friends who cheered us on, who laughed with us, and enjoyed our little show.  I'm still riding the high of putting myself out there without fear, and the satisfaction I felt in being part of the fun.  For me, this was about more than tug of war, and this was about more than fun.

Yes, I did this for my kids.  Yes, I did this for the fun.  But I also did it for myself.

Oh, and we start training for next year tomorrow.