It doesn’t take a village – it takes an army.
Something happened recently to a close mum friend. I won’t go into the details of it but it got me thinking about the might of the Parent Army once it is mobilised.
Finding my Parent Army has been an underrated benefit of having a family. I’m 40 now and I guess I thought I was done making friends, I certainly thought I’d only pick up a few choice friends through baby classes and play dates but that we’d grow apart as the kids grew up and went to different nurseries etc.
It’s been quite the opposite.
I now have a network of the most amazing people (mums and dads!) who I rely on for advice, support, bitching and gin when needed. More importantly, I know that if I needed help, and we all do, I would have it. This ranges from the emergency nappy I needed the other day to the knowledge that I would trust them with the lads if, for whatever reason, I had to leave them for a bit. And this is big. Trusting someone with my children. I’d like to think they think the same of me.
Unlike the other great superhero armies, the Parent Army doesn’t need capes, although god knows I’d love an excuse to wear one. And I’m really not sure I can pull off a cat suit though the other mums definitely can! Our uniform is snot trails, milk sick and ‘is it poo or is it chocolate’ brown splodges. We wear mismatched socks, have chaos hair and rock comfy mum shoes – no heels allowed.
Our marching is done with a buggy in front of us and a nappy bag so full of all the crap we need to carry ‘just in case’, that the weight of it would challenge any regular soldier.
If you see us together, desperately drinking coffee before it gets spilt or burns someone, eating a bacon roll that we shouldn’t because, once again, there was no time for breakfast, and comparing horror stories while laughing at who we are now – don’t be afraid of enlisting.
We are welcoming, we are strong and we support each other, no matter what. And if that coffee is sometimes wine, do not judge – unless it’s 9am.
The Parent Army mobilises when it needs to, and it’s always ready. Finding my troops has been an absolute highlight of my life. Parents are not alone, we have each other, and no soldier will be left behind.
Mummy And Her Lads 