Warning to moms of kids who don't talk yet. Do NOT teach them the word "up." Seriously, it's over-rated.
Over the past three years, I've developed a killer case of "Mom back," the throbbing, aching out-of-whack back you wear like a badge of honor for carting kids around all day. (As opposed to the "Mom back flab," the pinch an inch section right above the new old lady support bras we are forced to wear after children).
This month's Parents Magazine offers up a series of stretches to soothe the Mom back, but I've got a better idea. Don't pick them up. Make Dad - or their other Mom - do it.
There's an unspoken agreement in our marriage that ranks right up on the importance level with the "no happy endings" understanding - if I've got to do it, you do too. That extends outside the doors of the house where the 3-year-old insists she needs to be carried because she caaaaaaan't do it herself. I'd like to remind her of that when you're 15 minutes late to work and she demands to be allowed to "do it myself" while you're trying to shove her little pink Vans on her feet.
When you're out by yourself, there isn't much choice. I've left my daughter lying in a puddle on the department store floor and walked 5 feet (yes, where I could still see her) while she got over her tantrum and realized "up" wasn't happening, but usually it's just easier to pick her up and get a move on. Hence Mom back.
But when I see a Mom lugging a kid on each hip, a purse over one shoulder and a clutch of shopping bags in hand while a guy walks along beside her without a care in the world, I'm tempted to walk over, remove one child from one hip and clamp his little hands around Daddy's shoulders, then turn and do the same to kid number two. See how you like it buddy.
Image: ForParentsByParents
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