Today, while we were leaving the mall, a normal scene of baby love presented itself.
Women pouring themselves over a newborn.
Swooning, oohing, awwing, and drooling over the chubby hands, precious coos, and endless charm that a new infant has.
The sweet smells, tiny clothing, and perfect nose.
The innocent cries.
As we got closer we could see that the group was a bunch of teenage girls and the infants mother was one of their friends.
She smiled with pride.
And through her smile I saw exhaustion, tired swaying hips, pulled back hair, and a longing to be with her friends.
Long after they had walked away she stared after them.
After collecting our mountain of bags, sippy cups, and balloons we headed to the parking lot where the girls that had been drowning in baby were gathered in the smoking area.
Their squeals and smoke filled the air.
Teenage shrieks competing with one another to be heard.
All on the topic of one thing.
The baby.
How cute was that baby?
How fun would it be to have a baby?
Wouldn’t it be great to dress up a baby and take it to the mall?
I thought back to the young mother in the mall, her eyes lowering as she watched her friends walk away.
Their excitement for her bouncing off of the storefronts. The plans for their own babies ringing through the shopping mall.
Her tired smile, strong and confident.
Her sweet tenderness as she held her tiny baby and rocked her softly.
Leaving her friends to be teenagers and proudly becoming a mom.
No matter what age, becoming a mom – well – it’s life changing isn’t it.
It really is.
Hopefully the majority of moms know it’s a gift.
my older sister was a teen mom…
and you just described it perfectly…you may or may not have brought tears to my eyes…
Thank you for that HUGE compliment.
thank you.
oh god, if ONLY they understood how hard it is, even for adults. it is hard enough for me in my 30′s, i really can’t imagine having done this as a teenager.
I can’t imagine either.
I hope that girl has lots of support.
I have chills reading this- perspective, is tricky. Change, motherhood, being left behind, moving forward- it’s all tricky, isn’t it?
I love that you stopped to see and tell their stories!
Thank you Galit!
Motherhood is tricky even more so when you are young and have no support, I cannot imagine.
Lets hope Mom has a loving support system! I think being a teen Mom can be a awful difficult place to be. But it takes love and lots of courage to bring a life into the world and that should be applauded.
I hope she has supports too. Motherhood is hard enough
What a brave and strong woman! I hope she continues to view motherhood in the same way… and that her friends don’t get pregnant.
I hope the same things
Motherhood changes you, no matter what age. I was a teen mom and I knew what this girl was feeling. Longing after her friends living their ‘normal’ life, but so amazingly proud to be a mom.
yes! and thats what this girls face showed
I hope those girls don’t go out and get pregnant because they think it would be so much fun.
That is exactly what I was thinking.
Really nice post Leighann. I love how you captured the “story” behind those teen friends.
I hope I’m not out of line saying this but…I hope those girls keep their baby dreams in check for a few more years!
Yes! Being a mom is so much fun. And it is so much WORK. So make sure you had plenty of time to play first is what I tell my students.
I feel for that young teenage Mom. If it’s hard for us adult women to become Moms and deal with all the changes, I can’t imagine how much more difficult it is for a teenager to deal.
So I hope those teenage friends keep their thoughts of babies in their heads and don’t act upon them like so many young girls do.
So well written. I love how you showed both sides.
thank you Lisa.
That was what I wanted to do, I’m glad I achieved it.
I can picture so many young girls from my high school in this situation. When I was in high school and learned of their pregnancies, I had no REAL respect for just how much their lives were going to change and how short-lived their childhoods were going to be. Now, I’m friends with some of them on Facebook. Most seemed to have survived just fine, with healthy children and healthy lives. That makes me happy, as I’ve seen it go tragically wrong. I enjoyed this post!
Thanks so much Jen.
I wanted to give Teenage pregnancy a different view.
This is very sweet, Leighann. I can really picture this poor AND fortunate mom.
you said it perfectly Sue
Oh, I want to give that mom a hug and slap that group of girls! A baby is not an accessory. Even when they’re hanging onto your pajama pants like some weird wallet chain.
HA!
awesome! wallet chain!
Mine does that right now.
And yes, it’s true, they will never know until it’s too late.
Aw, what a sweet take on it. I’d be the bitch thinking, “Girls, you have NO idea…”
Oh.. I thought that too.
Oh I just loved this.
I loved how you described you as a mom quietly observing all of the psychology swirling around an unsaid drama that most people did not even see. Not to mention the fact that you had a small herd of children with you, balloons and shopping bags – isn’t it amazing the multitasking we moms can do, multitasking mumma? (-:
What a brilliant post. PS: Congrats on your Cookie’s best award!
Thank you so much.
Your comment was so so sweet.
And thanks on congratulating me xo