Now, I certainly can't argue with the concept of the mama-bear instinct that rears its head whenever my son is cheated on the playground or spoken to in an unnecessarily harsh way. Since Little Man is only 3, I'm sure that moments of mommy indignation will only increase in frequency as he continues to learn to live in our world. It seemed only natural that I'd have that same protective gut feeling when I had the Little Lady.
What I wasn't prepared for was the notion that sometimes my protection of one child would come at the expense of the other. Let's face it...the instinct to protect your child from absolutely any wrong is not always particularly rational. You give my daughter what I perceive to be a nasty look--I find myself having to rein in the desire to claw out your eyes. Instinct? Yes. Appropriate? Certainly not. We, as civilized human beings, have to moderate our behavior.
However, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma just yesterday when Little Man decided to try out his drummer-boy skills on the side of Little Lady's head. First thought, "Protect Little Lady! Destroy the perpetrator!" Second thought, "No one hurts my Little Man! Hug him!" Third thought, "Mad at Little Man! Want to hug Little Man! Want to comfort Little Lady!" The thoughts swirled in a confusing mass inside my head until I just growled--quite Mama-Bear-like, I must admit.
Just one more unexpected turn in the road to mama maturity....
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