I got “ma’am-ed” y’all…
Not that it’s unusual. Growing up in the south I was raised using “yes ma’am”, “no ma’am”, “yes sir” and “no sir”. I still do it with my elders, with my peers, with my own children (I dream of bringing up polite, southern gentlemen). But it really hit me upside the head the other day – if you know what I mean.
Let me paint a quick picture for you. I had just picked up my toddler from preschool and was running through the Chic-Fil-A drive through as I hadn’t taken time to eat while big boy was at lunch bunch. Side note: the spicy chicken sandwich minus pickles is my new favorite from there! Deeee-lish! I have the new mom short hair ‘do, I was wearing my jumbo sunglasses to cover the circles under my eyes, I was in the quintessential (and stereotypical) mom mobile – the minivan, and I had two tots in car seats in the backseat with the sounds of the Toy Story movie filling the car.
The young lady at the window was just adorable. 15 or 16 years old, long wavy hair pulled into a ponytail, braces on newly straightened teeth, and a glorious handful of freckles. She carefully passed me my sandwich and lemonade, gave me my card and receipt and happily ended our transaction with “Have a good day, ma’am!” WhooooooooooooooSH! Right there. I saw it all clearly as the giant wave of “ohmygod I’m old” just knocked me over…All this happened inside my head of course, and in a matter of just a few brief seconds. But man. It was SO REAL right then. Almost made me miss a heartbeat, but I checked the boys in my rearview and all I could do was smile. I love my boys. I love my haircut. I will admit that I love my minivan. And my eye bags are badges of honor. I am doing something very hard and very worthwhile – someone has to raise two precious redheads!
So, to everyone out there with little ones who counts a good night of sleep as at least 4 straight hours, who sometimes may not know left from right, who may occasionally give their toddler waffles for dinner because it’s one of three things he’s guaranteed to eat and you’re just too darn tired to argue with him…Have a good day ma’am or sir!