I want to be like Marmee
Every year around the holiday season, we like to watch Little Women. It's become a bit of a tradition in our household, and this year, we watched it for the first time with Vika and Eamon. They are somewhat young for this movie, but were still able to understand the theme of familial love woven throughout the story.This year was also the first time I watched the film as a mother. My new perspective made me view the relationship between Marmee and her "little women" in an entirely different way. She is so calm, loving and patient with Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy. Marmee always knows exactly the right thing to say in any given situation, and her girls seem to be better people for it.
I found myself wondering how Marmee would deal with many of the situations Jeff and I have faced during our 11 months of parenthood. What would she say to a child who screamed at her in anger because he didn't want to clean his room? How would she handle a child who hit her or spit in her face (a behavior, which thankfully, has been eradicated from our household)?
Even though Little Women is a fictional story, I kind of wish that it had begun when the girls were toddlers. I would love to see Marmee refereeing battles between a 5 year old Meg and 4 year old Jo. Maybe I could get some parenting tips from her reactions to a child in the midst of a full-blown tantrum while shopping at the local general store. I definitely could have used her skills at calming a volatile situation when Eamon threw a fit in Old Navy last week (as other shoppers looked on in appalled fascination).
Watching Marmee in action made me want to be a better mom. It inspired me to try harder to keep my cool in difficult situations and reminded me of the power of empathy when facing your kids’ anger and fear. I still do not know all the right things to say in any given situation, but I am confident that with time, the words will come more and more naturally. And hopefully, my kids will be better people for it.
I am not a mom but I sure feel like one to 300+ students that goes through my class. It is part of nature. We cannot avoid these raging feelings. You are doing fine by the sounds of it. Our kids may not agree with it, but they will when they have their own children. We always want reassurance and it is hard to get it most of the time. Here is a positive note, "You are a great mom." We are thankful of that!
My mom loved Little Women- the book. She would always tell me I was like Jo, which I thought was O.K. I would like to see a show of a family with young kids too. All of the shows that I have seen that have little kids are not true to life at all. They exagerate things that don't really happen much and ignore stuff that happens all the time. They should make a show called- Real Moms and Real Kids. I would watch it.
This post was so lovely. I too love Little Women, I have so much to learn from Marmee as well as Maria in the Sound of Music.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I need to get in the Christmas mood. I think with no snow, no thanksgiving, no lights on houses (just not done here) and having just moved and not knowing anyone, it is taking me a while. Perhaps Little Women will get me in the Christmas mood!