I'm a sissy

By Leslie

When I was younger, my family took my little brother to go see one of those "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies. I don't remember my exact age, but I do believe it was during a time when my only job was to roll my eyes in disgust as much as possible at being seen in public with my parents. During one particularly poignant scene about love and friendship, I looked over at my mother and saw tears streaming down her face. "You big sissy," I remember thinking with true teen disdain. "When I grow up, I'm not gonna cry at the drop of a hat like my stupid mother!"

Flash forward 20 years to last weekend. My husband and father and I took my 2-year-old son to see the Wiggles, live and in concert. I am ashamed to admit it, but James is a little obsessed with the Wiggles. We don't let him watch TV that often, but when we do, he only wants to watch the Wiggles. He goes into an almost catatonic trance and stares at the TV screen, oblivious to the world around him. If he won't let me brush his teeth very thoroughly, we go in the TV room, I turn on Wiggles (bless the person who invented Tivo!) and say "open." He opens his mouth and leaves it open for a good brushing as long as I don't turn off the TV. Hey, I won't win parent of the year award, but at least my son has clean teeth!

While James was a little young to really understand what a concert was before we got there, he was beaming when we arrived and he saw other kids in Wiggles shirts and all the Wiggles merchandise. I'd been excited for weeks about the show, anticipating the moment when he'd realize that the four men he's watched wiggling around our TV room were standing right in front of him. Luckily, I was not disappointed. His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and his face broke into a huge grin. He kept looking from the stage to our faces, not sure if he should believe his eyes. I was completely overwhelmed by how amazing it was for me to watch my son experience true joy.

And as my husband reached over and brushed away the tears that were falling down my face, it struck me: I have become a big sissy, just like my own mom. And I couldn't be happier!

Leslie lives in northern Virginia with her husband and 2-year-old son.

Comments

[Kelly Sanders]

Your story is very true. I am a mother of a very jubiliant two-year old myself (also smitten with the wiggles) and it seems that I often have these moments when nostalgia and emotion set-in. Tonight he asked me "Tursty Mommie" when I was drinking a bottle of water. You can't capsulate these moments, all you can do is enjoy!