Mommy Prayers – we all need them

Posted on April 26, 2011 by FoBaM-Jamie

There are few life experiences that test us the way motherhood does. Though it is the source of much joy, discovery, and personal growth, it also has a way of knocking us off our feet when we least expect it. It’s during those moments of complete exhaustion, confusion, and desperation that we quietly murmur our mommy prayers – calling upon something bigger than ourselves to pull us through to the next day, the next minute. Tracy Mayor has captured a hysterically comforting collection of such prayers in her aptly titled book, Mommy Prayers: For the missing binkie, the late preschool pickup, the birthday party from hell…and other everyday absurdities. We are so pleased to have her here with us on the blog and delighted that she’s offered to give away three signed copies of this book. Even if you don’t win the giveaway, we highly recommend snagging a copy – it’s just the thing to get you through the darker moments of motherhood with a smile and even an outright guffaw. It makes a perfect Mother’s Day gift, too. We’re just saying. ;)

When I was a little girl, I used to pray. A lot. I was a secret worrier, and at night I’d lie in my bed and stare at the ceiling and think of all of the bad things that could happen to me or my three brothers or my parents or our cat or my friends or poor orphans in Ireland or the fate of the Earth.

Our church wasn’t that big on praying — their message was, “Say thank you and move along; don’t bother God with your petty concerns.” So I’d pray very quickly, but very intensely.

I somehow survived junior high and high school — never a picnic for any girl — and went off to college, all grownup and put together and “over” stuff like praying. Oh, I still thought about God, and I still worried, but none of it had the same sense of helplessness and urgency it’d had when I was young. You can do things when you’re an adult rather than just worrying about them. I liked that, and I really do believe that “God helps those who help themselves…and others.”

Then I became a mom — and boom, suddenly I was right back where I’d been as a little girl, feeling scared and helpless and praying by the day — the hour — the minute. From the instant when they pulled my son from me, as purple as a grape from wearing his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck for eight hours of labor, the prayer went something like “Please God, keep my baby alive, please please pleasepleaseplease.”

Eventually, like all moms, I settled down a bit and gained some confidence in my abilities as a parent, and started praying for other stuff, most of which made it into my book Mommy Prayers.

Some of the prayers are poignant — like Prayer for My Grandmother or Prayer for My Baby’s First Step — but lots are funny, because if I’ve learned anything it’s that moms make it through those early years best if they have a great sense of humor — or a well-developed sense of the absurd.

So alongside those sweet prayers, you’ll also find Prayer for My Five-Minute Shower, Prayer on the Fifth Day of Rain, Prayer before the Home Pregnancy Kit, Prayer for My Wild Child, Prayer for Multitasking at the Playground and Prayer for a Girl’s Night Out (that one is essential!).

What’s the craziest thing you’ve prayed for as a frazzled mom? Tell us below, and you be entered into a drawing to win one of three signed copies of Mommy Prayers, perfect for gifting this Mother’s Day or just keeping all to yourself. What can you say to an offer like that besides “Amen!”

Editor Update: Comments must be entered below by midnight Wednesday, April 27th to be eligible for the giveaway drawing. Thanks!

Tracy Mayor is a contributing editor at Brain,Child Magazine and author of Mommy Prayers: For the missing binkie, the late preschool pickup, the birthday party from hell…and other everyday absurdities (Hyperion, 2010). Follow her on Twitter @mommyprayers or “Like” Mommy Prayers on Facebook.

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