Belated Happy Mother's Day: Mama's Boy or Well-loved?

**DISCLAIMER: This was written as a tribute for Mother’s Day, but not finished until now…**

As a son and father of a son who are both blessed with wonderful mamas, I think it’s high time to take back the term ‘mama’s boy.’ ‘Daddy’s girls’ wear t-shirts trumpeting the label, but a mama’s boy – that’s something we should be ashamed of. Come on. In my opinion if you’ve ever been called one you are one lucky mama’s boy.

I remember the moment vividly. I was 12, standing at the phone that sat on a dresser in my parent’s bedroom. It was a Friday afternoon in late summer and I was packed and ready to head out for the Boy Scout camp out that weekend. There were major storms predicted over the next few days due to a hurricane that was about to hit the Gulf Coast. The fate of the camping trip appeared in jeopardy, or so I thought.

I called the scout master to ask if we would still be going given the forecast. His direct response was swift and incredulous: “Don’t be a mama’s boy, Carlisle. A little thunder and lightning isn’t going to scare us away.”

I could feel his eyes roll through the phone. I hung up feeling embarrassed; my ears stinging and face red. Being called a ‘mama’s boy’ was mortifying.

I told my mom the verdict and the look on her face was skeptical.

“It will be fine,” I said quickly. Feeling resolved to force myself through the weekend without fear and working hard to appear annoyed at my mom for even assuming we might stay indoors during major storms.

I went on the camping trip and endured the mocking laughs of the scout master the entire rain-soaked weekend as he loudly told the tale of my call over the sound of pounding rain, “Carlisle thought we couldn’t handle this weather.” He said over and over, laughing loudly. We indeed survived the weekend, soggy and miserable.

I am sure any young guy with a loving mama has been caught in this same situation and there were more instances beyond the storm-threatened camping trip that I can recall warranted the labeling. In fact, the summer before I started college, my mother drove with me to Tuscaloosa to find the house I was going to for a pledge party so I could do it myself the next day and not get lost. Mama’s boy?  

I am now the father of a 3 month old and even at that young age I can see the look of peace on H’s face when his mama holds him. When he is restless or anxious for any reason, the sound of her voice soothes him and he is quickly sound asleep or cooing contently. The two of them were made to be nap partners. They could win an award for it. Together, they nap hard. I love to watch them with one another, matched perfectly together. He is a mama’s boy and I am damn proud of it.

Looking back, I shouldn’t have been embarrassed with the name calling of my scout master. I should embrace it. We all should. In my opinion it just means you have a mama who loves you so much that it might cause occasional embarrassment, as she tries to do all she can to make the world a better and safer place for her child.  And what loving mother wouldn’t do that for a son or daughter? You say mama’s boy, I say well-loved.

Mamas are a special thing. Being a mama’s boy isn’t so bad after all.