'Sammich' making more than stacking bread

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, May 5, 2004 by Capital-Journal

"I want a sammich," is a sentence children learn to blurt out at any time on any given day.
Yes, motherhood sometimes is simply applying a condiment to a slice of bread, covering it with meat and cheese, stacking on the final bread slice and cutting diagonally to create that reliable lunch staple --- the "sammich." (The diagonal cut vs. a horizontal cut is a point of debate, kind of like toilet paper on the roll --- over or under.)
The "sammich" task becomes a mundane ritual, but to the child it is nourishment, not just another meal slopped on a plate. It's a homemade concoction by someone who cares.
Daily tasks like this are not analyzed in parenting books. Nowhere can you find information on getting out of a jam when your child wants peanut butter and jelly and the jelly jar is empty. It's mom to the "sammich" rescue with honey, bananas, applesauce or anything that is sweet, spreadable and edible.
"I don't want to take a bath" is a universal groan of youngsters because they know the bath is a prelude to "night-night." Bath time can be frustrating, especially at the end of a long, sammich-making day.
Sure it would be easier to just skip the bath because you're exhausted. A 20-minute bath turns into a 45-minute pilot for a sit- com, and you're the only one not laughing. But the mom in you does it anyway because you know the Cheetos cheese stains on your child's face and hands will be permanent if you don't. And your mother's instinct tells you that the bath is comforting for your child because it's part of the routine.
Moms immerse themselves in the first years of a child's life --- bathing, feeding, dressing, changing, reading, comforting and drying tears. So when "I want to do it myself," rings out for the first time, we feel sad and useless. This newfound independence results in plaids worn with polka dots, shorts with snow boots and six bows on a one-bow head of hair. As a mom, you may be embarrassed, but the child is delighted that she did it all by herself. She reminds you that fashion doesn't matter when the words "Look mom. I got dressed all by myself" are shouted with pride from that beaming babyish face.
This time the tears are yours, not hers.
What mom ever thought that simple tasks like "sammich" making, could be so challenging and rewarding? After all, a "sammich" is a "sammich." Sometimes it's peanut butter and jelly on gummy white bread and other times it's peanut butter and raisins on rye. You've learned that the important thing is to serve it with a side of love.
(To the moms, guardians and caregivers who nurture our children -- - Happy Mother's Day.)
Vicki Estes is a Topeka freelance writer. Her column appears on Wednesday. She can be reached at vaestes@sbcglobal.net.
VICKI
ESTES

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