What It Means to Be a Mommy

Mommy. An endearing name for the female parent of a child. A sweet name coming from your little one to you. In our household mommy takes on a whole new meaning.

When we first found out we were pregnant, we had lots of decisions on our hands. Similar to those of a heterosexual couple. How should we decorate the room? Do we cloth diaper or not? Breastfeeding? Names? Same old problems for everyone out there.

But then we also faced questions that others did not have to really think about (some definitely more complicated than others). One of the many things was what our child was going to call us. Would we both be mom? One momma and one mom? Mommy? Ma? 

We settled on mommy and momma. What has resulted has been pretty interesting. 

I am pretty sure that our children think that a “mommy” is a whole different category of person. 

For example, they will say they have a mommy and a momma. Not two moms, but distinctly a mommy and a momma. They call out “hey momma it’s you!” for the stereotypical feminine characters they see on shows, and a “hey mommy it’s you!” for the stereotypical masculine characters. Currently we are Rosita and Gunter from Sing.

What I love about this is the fluidity of gender. That a mommy can be it’s own category based on what they know. That it is ok for a woman to have short hair and like to wear polos. It erases the stereotype of what a female should be, before we even get to the age where it is an issue. They are learning that gender is not binary but a spectrum of how a person most feels comfortable in their own skin. I also love that friends and classmates of our children also see us as two different “types” of moms- both very different but equally as important and loved.