The only person who calls me Barbara Joyce is my cousin Jay-Jay. And when she calls me that, it’s not really meant to be endearing, it’s meant to be like, “Girl, what are you doing?” Y’all, it must be a southern thing when someone addresses another by using both their first and middle names. Even though I’m over fifty, when Jay-Jay calls me Barbara Joyce, I feel like I’ve got some explaining to do!
I love that the three ladies in the picture above gathered their friends from the club and hosted a tea party. It was a lovely time. Some of us hadn’t seen each other in two years due to the pandemic. Typically, not seeing each other at the club is only at most, a season or two in between. Therefore, we appreciated the opportunity to attend the tea party because it was a reunion for many of us
The other day I was caught completely off guard when the Moms Group amazed me with a surprise party. Coincidentally, the surprise party was on the same day as my hub’s birthday (and Cinco de Mayo) so any attention for me was definitely not on my radar. My Moms Group consists of moms that I met when my daughter was eight months old (now 14.5 years old), moms that I met when my son was born (2008) and moms that I met in between then and now middle school years. Meeting up for parent educating classes for fourteen years or just a year, we have history together. Moms who learn together, stay together.
Even though mothers are not supposed to measure ourselves up against other mothers, we do it anyway. Comparing our motherly capabilities to others is something that we naturally do and I think it could do more good than harm; especially if we compare both sides. We can try to be like someone we admire - a mother who seems to have it altogether. And/or when my daughter is watching Dance Moms or Toddlers & Tiara’s and I catch a glimpse of those mothers, I can strive to be the opposite of who they are.
