Mother Bear

The author N.K. Jemisin once said, “There is no greater warrior than a mother protecting her child.”    

It does not matter how old children are, mothers will fearlessly face down their children’s foes and skillfully deliver the kind of retribution that only a mother can. Deep inside each of us lies a creature of savage fierceness. The Mother bear. Do not mess with her cubs. You bait her, and you will crawl away mangled and bloody. It is never wise to engage a Mother bear who is protecting her family.

This ferocious creature will lie dormant within us mothers for a time, only to come roaring to the surface with claws unsheathed ready to defend her cubs. What unleashes this primal creature in all mothers? For me, she emerges in two situations. Protecting my children from those who would hurt them and protecting the little idiots from themselves.  

I love each of my children. They are not perfect. But they are, pretty amazing humans. So when they are bullied, called names, mocked for being different, treated poorly by someone that claims to love them, passed over for a job they rightly deserved or taken advantage of by unscrupulous people, the savage protector bursts out, swiping and slashing, verbally eviscerating the threats until my thirst for retribution is quenched. Yes, she can become a little unhinged.

Last week I was scrolling through channels and came upon an animal show about bears in the wild. The mother bear was sitting in a meadow diligently watching her two small cubs play and wrestle around her. One of the cubs wandered away and fell into a hole and couldn’t get out. He cried for his mama until she went over to the hole, pulled him out and set him back with his sibling. A few moments later, the cub did it again and mama rescued him once more. The third time the cub headed towards the hole, the mama bear swiped out with her big paw, knocking her little cub ass-over-tea kettle. Once the tumbling stopped, the cub sat up, shook its head, obediently waddled back to mama bears side and resumed wrestling with his sibling. Never venturing near the hole again.

As I said before, my children are amazing. But there are times, when their ability to be total idiots astounds me. This too will awaken the feral savage that needs to protect them from the most daunting of foes, themselves. There have been many times as a parent, when I have been like that mama bear, rescuing my wayward cubs time and time again only to reach my limit and knock the stubborn little idiots’ ass-over-tea kettle in the hope good sense returns once again. Sometimes it works, but sometimes, it does not. When it doesn’t, the fierce protector in me is forced into hibernation and life is allowed to teach the tough lessons. This is never easy for my mother bear. It goes against her primal instincts to protect. But it must be done even when it hurts.

These savage, fiercely protective creatures, the mother bears lie within all women. For that I am grateful. This makes us great warriors and fierce protectors.