Y tu mama tambien
NS September 9th, 2007
Today the Noble Husband and I took the kiddo for a walk along the river, stopping at a lovely park en route. I freed her from the restraints of the pushchair and she took off running with a ball in hand. As I watched her joyfully frolic, playing catch and roll with Daddy, I noticed a little boy who looked to be just a couple months older than our little ‘un standing nearby, with his father. The dad smiled at me and remarked on our daughter’s ball and how his son would probably make a grab for it if she wasn’t careful. I looked at the little boy with the big blue eyes and yellow t-shirt and smiled warmly.
The next thing I knew, he had walked over directly to me and was hugging my knees with the fierceness of a lion cub, holding on for dear life and looking up at me with an angelic expression of comfort and familiarity. The father, who had taken a call on his mobile, walked over laughing, saying into the phone “Oh, he’s fine. He’s hugging another Mummy. He must miss you.” I rubbed the little boy’s back and head affectionately, an unsuppressed smile of delight on my face, and hoped that his mother wasn’t too upset at the thought of her son hugging a mama who was not his own. He clung to me for a minute longer before his father gently prised his hands from my legs and led him away. I waved and then turned my attention back to my own child, smiling broadly.
Mother to one, mother to all — even if just for a moment.
