Materminal Instincts

I hadn't been away from those babies for more than 3 hours. Still, the baby's cries coming from the back of the plane had my heart squeezing extra hard. I've been in Auntanna mode for the past 10 days and now I'm going through withdrawal.

It's hard.

I had to make sure I was buckled in so I wouldn't go back there, pick that sweet thing up from its mommy's arms and rock it back to sleep.

When I've been around any of my 8 nephews or niece, I grow accustomed to liberally holding, kissing, spinning, tickling, reminding 'please' and 'thank-you' and being reached out for by those sweet sticky fingers. Did I mention the kissing of the overly-cute cheeks? I have to remind myself that is not acceptable behavior in non-family public!

I've realized that one of my motivating factors for wanting to be a mommy is the belief that every child is absolutely kissable. Yes, I've had the 4-yr-old screaming tantrum in public, the leaky diaper on previously nice clothes, and been completely ignored when their show or computer game is on. But still.

For you moms and dads out there who have strangers gaze at your children, or even comment on how cute they are, or ask you annoying questions about them, - if they're not too weird- do me a favor. That person might be carrying around a little lump in their throat from missing some cutie-pies of their own. So, just have compassion and say a little prayer for them.

You may never know how much a smile from a child might do for them.