Mamagrit: An Introduction

Mamagrit is an act of desperation, a spilling over, a claim that I have something to give other than a clean house, a cooked meal, or my shit together. Somebody has to chronicle this amazing experience of being a 45-year-old, stay-at-home, lesbian mom with twin toddler boys living in the city. It’s 10:32 PM, and one kid is lying in bed singing, “I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL.” That’s funny. He can’t contain himself. It’s fun to share. Besides, my house isn’t clean, we went out to dinner, and I don’t even know what it means to have my shit together.

(Picture by Tina Bolling Photography, 2010)

Mamagrit is also about being tough enough to raise kids. It is a quest for the wisdom to know what to do, to get through the obstacle course of my own doubt and pain to earn that Mama Medal of Honor. It’s being able to stop in the midst of day-to-day madness, and see the world through a kid’s eyes. It’s a quest for something transcendent rising up from the ashes of that same madness. Also, I can quest in a bathrobe with a glass of wine, and nobody cares if I’ve showered.

Mostly, Mamagrit is about love. It’s true. I bet you will end up loving my kids as much as I do. They are awesome.