If you’ve watched “The Wild Robot,” I’m sure you’ve been touched by the story of Roz, a robot stranded on a remote island who raises Brightbill (a gosling orphan), after accidentally killing his family.
The movie has many touching scenes. One interaction that I loved:
Roz: “I do not have the programming to be a mother…”
Pinktail (an opossum mama): “No one does. We just make it up.”
Credit: The Wild Robot, Universal Pictures
Exactly.
That sums up motherhood.
Society has expectations of motherhood perfection. It’s easy to compare and get caught in that trap.
You saw whatever was (or was not) modelled for you in childhood. You vowed to do better.
You carry baggage and pain.
Much of it is invisible to others.
And through it all, you feel like you’re fumbling.
Guess what? We are all fumbling all the time.
We are all making it up as we go along.
And so that leads me to lesson four: your kids do not want perfection. They want your love and a sense of belonging.
Does Roz make mistakes in training a gosling how to swim?
You bet (he almost gets eaten).
Does Roz ask for help when she can’t quite teach a bird how to fly?
Yes, she hires Thunderbolt, a peregrine falcon to be Brightbill’s flight instructor. It’s EPIC.
Does a piece of Roz feel left behind when Brightbill migrates for the first time and tests his independence beyond the safety of her protection?
Yes.
That’s what makes her a mother.
Question: “how can you embrace the amazing mama that you are without judgment?”
