On the day that they were born,
Our lives forever changed.
Our days, our nights, and bodies
Were forever rearranged.
When we brought our babies home,
We could not even believe
That with these fragile creatures,
The doctors let us leave.
After lots of practice,
We figured out the swaddle.
And it took a veteran
To help construct their bottle.
Everything we spoke to them
Came out in a sweet song,
And from their drooling mouths,
They softly cooed along.
They smiled and waved at every
Single stranger that walked by,
And if that stranger didn’t wave back
We shot them our best stink eye.
We researched every milestone
And counted every word they said.
We worried about their growth
And the circumference of their head.
Then they started crawling,
And eventually they walked.
No matter where we went,
From then on we were stalked.
We were their full-time bodyguards
Keeping them safe from harm.
It’s like they tried to hurt themselves.
We lived in a state of alarm.
When we were brand new mothers,
We had it all figured out.
Our kids would always listen
So we’d never have to shout.
They wouldn’t watch much TV.
They would never have our phones.
We’d make them go outside to play,
We’d resist their moans and groans.
…
Now our kids are a little older,
And we have a couple more.
They’ve taken over the house.
Their toys are covering the floor.
They’re immune to our nice voices.
They only listen if we scream.
So every time we call their name,
We look like an angry meme.
We tell them to use their words
A hundred times a day,
And when they actually do
They have an awful lot to say…
Their words evolve from asking “why?”
To forming a little sentence,
To expressing with an attitude
Their want for independence.
We have our mommy tricks.
We’re always putting them to use.
If our kids won’t take their medicine,
We sneak it in their juice.
We also tell our kids that
We have eyes
In the back of our head,
And we skip pages of their books
When it’s time to go to bed.
And when we’re in the grocery store
And they have a royal fit,
We get out as fast as we can
Because for this, there’s no etiquette.
We are their secret keepers,
Forever, we’re their rock.
We have so many roles to play
And we do them ‘round the clock.
We run this little circus,
We’re the household CEO.
We wipe away every tear
And we fix every bobo.
They say it takes a village
And we know this to be true.
When a mommy needs some backup
Another comes to the rescue.
If you need help with carpool,
The Mamas have your back.
We’ll pick them up, do homework,
And give them a little snack.
We’re all in this together,
A great big mommy tribe.
There’s no problem we cannot fix,
And there’s no kid we cannot bribe.
But the thing that makes us most alike is
There’s nothing we won’t do
To make sure our kids are good and kind
And to help their dreams come true.
About Rachel Chustz
Rachel was born and raised in Alexandria and moved to Baton Rouge to go to college at LSU. Rachel graduated in Elementary Education and shortly after met her husband, Michael. She went back to school to get her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction and was an elementary teacher for several years. When Rachel and Michael had their first child, Rachel decided to be a stay-at-home mother. They now have three children: Tripp (9), Charlotte (7), and Joseph (3). Rachel loves spending time with her family, reading, and traveling.
