Moving Past the Sippy Cup

You know, there are times when I think that we as mothers should have a star chart--a chart that we, too, get to put stickers on just like our children do.  Each mom's chart would be different because each of us have different mountains to climb, valleys to wade through, and marathons to run.  But in addition to the big things to star on our chart, I think there needs to be a category to make a place for the moments that aren't necessarily grand, but still accomplishments in their own right.  I'm struggling to come up with a name for such a category for our chart, but it would have room for things like the day that my baby boy completely destroyed his exersaucer with a diaper blowout and I made it through the clean-up.  It would also include a star for the ophthalmology appointment where this mama--who is very squeamish around blood, body parts, and especially eyeballs--bravely turned around to look at the charts on the wall of all the inner workings of the human eye and chose one to study in order to begin dealing with my fears since, well...my littlest guy was born blind in his left eye. It would be a category that acknowledges that sometimes just making it through the gross, the mundane, or even the embarrassing and awkward moments in life are important, too.  Maybe that "accomplishment" doesn't win any trophies, but it might give us a great story to tell or a good laugh later on.  That's the kind of category I'm thinking of, and that's the category that I found myself in tonight. 

To many moms, these ponderings will seem silly.  I realize that many have tread this path before me, and many of them have tread it when their sons were younger than mine are.  Maybe to some, this really is no big deal.  And it really isn't a big deal.  I just found it comical.  And I was a bit caught off guard by it.  Because in all of my thoughts, dreams, and plans that revolve around my children--and in the realities of the day-in and day-out of childcare--tonight, I found myself in a rather interesting and funny place. And honestly, it had never crossed my mind that this, too, will be part of my parenting journey. But I did find myself thinking after the fact, "Wow!  I just did that!  And from all outward appearances--calmly, I might add!"

Let me back up just a bit.  My second son, my sweet and sensitive boy--the one who is a pro with the baby of the house and wants to be a surgeon so he can go to Africa to do surgeries for those with no access to medical care--well that son has been wanting to play football for a long time.  Why? 

"Well, Mom," he says, "I just want to tackle people.  You know." 

Uhhhhhh...no, actually, I don't.  And I was more than a bit surprised that he did.  He definitely has his Daddy in him.  So football it is.  We called our school district to see if this homeschooled boy of mine could play with the junior high team since we plan to integrate him into the public school when he is a freshman. 

"Sure!" they said.  "Bring him on over!"

 So we took him last week to get him registered.  Sports physical?  Check.  Registration money?  Check.  Measurements for helmet, pads, and uniform?  Check.  We were good to go!  Or so I thought.

"Alright, Luke!" said the defensive coach.  "You are set!  Practice starts next Tuesday.  Make sure you get yourself some cleats, a mouth guard, and a cup!"

Sounds great, I thought.  I just dropped $275 on registration...and it looks like there would be more checks to write. We'll need to buy cleats and a mouth guard, but a cup?  He must've meant a water bottle, and we already have plenty of those.  So how much do cleats cost, I started wondering... 

Ummmmm...wait a minute...he DID say a cup.  I suddenly remembered that "cup" has more meanings than just a holder of liquids that you drink.  However, for many years the term "cup" has been used in this house with the word "sippy" in front of it.

We often hear, "Mommy!  I want my sippy cup!!!"  or  "Honey, did you remember to pack the sippy cup?"

 And maybe that's why you might understand my delay in putting two and two together...for about fifteen years "cup" in my world has been a "SIPPY" cup.  Unless, of course, you're talking about a "COFFEE" cup, which I added to my life a few years back to get through the exhausting "sippy" cup phase.  But I guess those days are numbered around here.  Those four babies who fall into the male gender category around my house are all growing up.  And that means they won't be needing sippy cups anymore.  They get to move on to another type of cup...and not the "coffee" cup kind, either...at least not in football.  So it looks like I'm going to have to adjust my thinking, beginning right now.  I jumped in the car and promptly told my shopping-averse husband that he was in charge of the football supply shopping trip.  It'll be great male bonding, I thought. 

So we fast forward a few days, a few very busy days.  And I realized tonight as my husband is at a late meeting, and while I'm getting ready to send my two oldest sons off early in the morning for a day-long float trip, that the big shopping trip hasn't happened yet.  And I added up the time left that both father and son would be available to shop, and I quickly surmised that the father/son bonding at the store wasn't going to happen before the first football practice tomorrow night after all. Ugh.

"Luke!"  I called out.  "It's time to go to the store.  We need to buy your cleats...and a few other things."

Fifteen minutes later the two of us walked through the doors of Sports Authority.  Shoes first, I thought.  We soon found a pair.  Next up, mouth guards.  It took me awhile to find them, but I really wasn't wanting to draw attention to our situation by asking for help.  We found them.  Oh my!  A wall full of mouth guards!  All sorts of colors to choose from, including ones with flavors in them.  Yuck!  Who wants to taste a very berry blue raspberry when they are hot and sweaty while running football drills?  We finally decided on one.  The cheap one.  No flavors.

Then came the part I was dreading.  I was looking around, scouting for where, oh where this next item on my list might be found.  I was praying that a sales associate wouldn't finally appear to ask if he could help us.  I thought I saw it.  Nope, those were chin guards.  I moved on down the wall, at this point frantically searching, searching, searching. 

FOUND!  Yes!  There they were!  But oh!  There was such a large selection!  I moved in closer.  Thank goodness we didn't have colors to sort through like the mouth guards!  But sizes!  Uhhhh....oh!  Here we go, I found the size we needed.  But then prices!  You have got to be kidding me!  Anywhere from $14.99 to $34.99!  I panicked.  I'm really not wanting to drop 35 bucks on a, ummmm...cup.  But I suddenly remembered picking out a cheap $5 cover for my new cell phone a couple months back and the sales rep telling me that the $40 protective cover is shock absorbent and a much better choice, especially with 7 children at home eager to play on my phone.  Isn't this kind of the same thing?  Like, am I a bad mom for buying the cheaper version, thus putting my son's manhood on the line as soon as he gets tackled because I was more concerned about dollar signs than my son getting rushed by the opposing team's defensive line?  I tried to read the boxes to see the differences between the differently priced options, but at this point I was in a fog.  I am NOT a guy!  What do I know about these things?  And where in the world was my husband anyway?!?!

I grabbed the $14.99 version and made a b-line to the checkout register.  Thank goodness it was a female to check us out!  I glanced over at Luke, who seemed to be much pleased with his rather striking new cleats and completely oblivious to the turmoil I was feeling.  To him, this was just another shopping trip with his mom. I began to calm down.  I caught his eye and smiled. 

 "I did it!" I thought to myself, as we made our way back to the car.  "I can't believe I just did that!  Shouldn't I get a star on a chart or something?" 

To me, my night's shopping excursion with my son would be tantamount to sending my husband with my daughter to the store at some point in the future for...well, you know what for!

So tonight I've taken a rather comical step in this whole process of raising kids, thus putting another star on this imaginary chart of mine.  And I wonder if I'm the only Mom out there thinking that this was a pretty big deal after all...not just for my son getting to finally play football, but also for his mom in getting through a bit of an awkward evening shopping with that son.

We will soon be closing the door on things like diapers and bottles and sippy cups around here.  We are entering a new phase of life as my kids are getting older.  And I'm getting excited about it, even if it brings a few new surprises my way.  You know in Proverbs it talks about a woman who is considered praiseworthy, and one of the descriptions of her is that she doesn't fear winter's snow,  "for all her household are clothed with scarlet."  Well, I'm far from praiseworthy, and I really don't fear snow, given the time and place in which we live.  But linemen?!  Now that's a different story!  Football guys can be pretty rough!  However, after tonight's successful trip to the store, I chuckle as I think of Luke's upcoming season.  You will find me at the game, sitting in the stands, and I, too, will not fear.  All because my son is clothed in...well...let's just say he will be well protected.   Go Luke!  Go Lions!