I’m a firefighter.
Not in the traditional sense. I don’t ride in a shiny red truck and do heroic deeds. I don’t climb ladders or wrestle with high-pressured hoses, but I do put fires out all day long, because …
I am a mom.
You know what I mean, those constant little interruptions that need your attention in any twenty-four-hour period. Can’t find your shoes? Mom to the rescue. Need a ride to soccer practice? Mom again. Birthday party, costume for a school play or a healthy dinner on the go? Mom, mom, mom.
Talk to any traditional firefighter and they will tell you that they often go for days without a single fire to extinguish. Not so with moms. In contrast, we fight little blazes every single day.
Can you look back on any given day and say that you got through it without even a small “brush fire”? Even if you have the best, most compliant, well-trained children in the world, something always happens to interrupt your best laid plans. There are fights to referee, lectures to give and boo-boos to kiss. Little ones need cuddling, teens eat all the leftovers you had planned for dinner or your middle-schooler has strep throat.
It could be said that all the fires that crop up in a mom’s day are what make motherhood so exhausting, but the thing is, we are experts at dousing these constant flare-ups. A few words from mom can diffuse almost any difficult situation. A mother’s kiss can heal wounds better than anything and her smile comforts the most anxious hearts.
The fires we fight aren’t usually life–or–death blazes. Rarely do we administer oxygen or save a life. But, we are on duty 24/7 with few (if any) days off and no promise of eight hours of sleep in a row. Our meals are interrupted and our days vary depending on the next emergency we face. Just like “real” firefighters.
No one is really impressed when we show up in our mini-vans with our equipment of diaper bags and water bottles (instead of hoses and axes). Our uniforms of yoga pants and messy buns hardly bring a tear to anyone’s eye. We do, however, put out countless “fires” a day and we would give our lives to serve and protect those in our care.
Our job is messy, stressful and yes, sometimes even dangerous (ever been head-butted by a toddler?) but it’s a calling and we wouldn’t quit for anything in the world.
Read more of Ann’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
