What pregnant mother doesn’t imagine a day when her baby will look into her eyes and say “mommy?” It’s one of the things that we most anticipate and most take for granted. When we think about our unborn child, we don’t consider any of the potential obstacles and challenges that he or she may face. We just picture that cherubic face, shining with love for us and a sweet little voice saying “mommy.”
My babies of course did not select “mommy” as their first word. I was pre-empted for “ball” and “teeth” and “daddy.” You would think that out of three children, at least ONE of them would humor me with an early “mama.” But apparently, that’s not the way they roll.
As I’ve mentioned before, my oldest son Oliver has had some speech delays. While he did start using words at the usual age, his progress was a bit on the slow side. After having him tested at age two, he qualified for a county funded pre-school (so while you say “oh no – speech delays…” I say “oh yeah – free preschool!”) And his teachers have worked with him on some of his more quirky habits like jargoning (which basically means speaking in gibberish) and making up words.
An example of these quirks was his bizarre tendency to say “yo-yo-yo” before something he wanted, like “yo-yo-yo cookie!” During this phase we called him a little rapper and spent countless hours amusing ourselves with imitations (because that’s the way WE roll). He’d also replace real words like “mom” or “mommy” or even “mama” with made up words like “mo.” So, yes – for about a year, my first born son called me “mo.”
Chris, of course thought this was hilarious and encouraged it: “Oliver – where’s Mo?…Oliver – listen to Mo…Oliver – keep calling your mother ‘Mo’ even though she doesn’t like it – because I’m sadistic and like to torture her when all she ever asked for was to be called ‘mommy’ by shining cherubic faces…” You know – that kind of thing.
While I didn’t exactly encourage “mo,” I lived with it and just hoped that he’d grow out of it someday. At the very least, I would not allow “mo” to become my official name in the family. Dammit – someone was going to call me mommy!
The first day that I brought Oliver to school was pretty hard on both of us. He was so little (only two!) and I had never left him anywhere new before. He’d been going to daycare since he was three months old. It was unthinkable for me to just hand him to strangers and then walk away. But I had to. And then I had to listen to cries of “Mo! Mo!” as I took the longest walk of my life away from him.
The end of those three hours could not arrive fast enough. Even though I was busy at my office less than a mile away, I felt like I hadn’t taken a breath since I had let go of his hand (something I hadn’t experienced since the first day I left him at daycare). When it was finally time to collect him, I raced into the school wildly scanning the crowd for his little blond head and orange jacket.
When I finally did spot him, he sat with the other little kids, looking confused and forlorn. Not crying – but heartbreakingly unsure of what would come next. Then his eyes met mine, and his cherubic little face broke into the brightest, most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. And then he said “Mommy!”
I have no idea what changed. Maybe the teachers referred to me as “mommy.” Maybe the other kids talked about their mommies. But for some reason, I finally stopped being “mo” and started being “mommy.”
Thank god!
As for George and Eleanor? Eleanor is a typical girl in her constant chatter. She started calling me mommy once she really began talking. And apparently, it’s her favorite word. It’s also the soundtrack of my life: “MO-MEE! MO-MEE! MO-MEE!” Be careful what you wish for – right? George is only just starting to call me mommy, but chooses to pronounce it “Ma-MY!” Of course he also calls Chris, “Da-DY!”
We find this insanely adorable. Weird. But adorable. Which I personally find to be an apt description for all of my children.
*This is part of the “Writing Motherhood” writing challenge and giveaway over at Mommyvents. Post a link to your own post in the comments section and you can win a copy of “Writing Motherhood.”
so sweet…..you really captured the moment when he said mommy !! thanks for participating, and for the link !!!
So cute Kate. I love it! I’m already excited for the day when Fiona calls me mommy..or MoMe, or whatever! :-)
Kate, hi, this is Lisa Garrigues, author of Writing Motherhood. Your writing is really good, let me say that first! I love lines like “Dammit–someone was going to call me mommy!” or “I took the longest walk of my life.” Which brings me to this observation: your story is really a string of firsts: first words, first worry, first day of school…all leading up to the first utterance of mommy. My only advice: keep writing!
Lisa
Very sweet story. Both of my babies call me “mama.” Well, Porgie calls me “mama” and Izzy calls me “ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma.”
I loved your story! I felt I was right there with you. My heart melted at the exact same moment as yours did. Thanks for sharing. Wasn’t this fun….?
Great story.
Great Post!
My son took forever to call me anything. But once the little one started calling me Mama then he decided he would too.
Kate – Good job. I hope you win the book! None of my children’s first words were “mommy” either but like you said, be careful what you wish for…now it’s a nonstop chant around the house.
ahhh, my son just started calling me ‘Mom’, not mommy…
and it’s so hard :(
great post :)
Aww so sweet. Having two girls I have taken for granted the early speech. My 21 month old is completely in a polly parrot phase, where she repeats everything (her version of course) that comes out of our mouths! Everything.