I often wondered who the foremost mother of the animal kingdom was. I used to think I was the best mother then I read about the female octopus. When a mother octopus lays her eggs, she carefully knits them together into a pod. Then for the next two and a half months she never leaves their side. She pushes the water over the eggs to oxygenate them and protects them from predators. She doesn’t eat at all and as they are growing she is dying of starvation. They have even been known to eat their own arms for nourishment. By the time the eggs are ready to hatch, the mother has gone from a rosy pink to an ashen gray. When they hatch she blows with her last bit of strength to move them to food and then she dies.

Whoa! I must tell you that I would draw the line at eating my own arms. I would say I am more of a mother bear. I, like the black bear, am fiercely aggressive if someone is threatening my young. I, like the black bear, have hind quarters that are out of proportion to my front limbs. I can also smell danger from miles away.

It’s difficult to be a mother bear with when your cubs are away at college.  But on occasion, when your cubs or kids are trying to stand on their own and become good adult citizens of the world, it is necessary to intervene. Colleges really dislike parent involvement. They want you to pay for everything and donate to fundraising and otherwise keep your distance. Don’t you love that we parents get the bills for tuition, books, medical expenses, etc. but our kids get their grades and don’t need to share them with us unless they see fit? Or, have you had your child become very ill at school and when you call to talk to the medical staff they cannot share any info without permission from your child?

Rinn was so sick at school last year that she couldn’t talk on the phone to tell me what was going on. She had been back and forth to the clinic three times for different meds and still wasn’t responding. Of course, because she is a pseudo adult, she was trying to take care of herself and not call me. I received a voice-mail from her sounding like she was dying and I called the clinic. The lovely nurse practitioner on the other end of the phone proceeded to tell me that she could not give me any information about Rinn’s condition until she had permission from her and she was asleep in the clinic at the time.

About that time my inner mother bear tapped me on the shoulder. Now, most people know me to be a sweet southern girl with impeccable manners but if I could have reached through that phone I would have ripped the eyes out of that ladies head. Needless to say, my wicked tongue and bear-like aggressiveness got me the information I needed and the next day I flew up to take Rinn to the doctor where we found she had pneumonia.  

Moral of the story- Mothers always know best. Mothers can smell danger from 600 miles away. Don’t mess with a Mother Bear. No matter how hungry you are, don’t eat your own arm!