The Evolution of Having a Mama Bear Moment

I'll never forget my first mama bear moment. I was at the playground chatting it up with another mommy friend while my son, who was about 3 at the time, happily played. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that an older kid (let's call him 5 years old) was starting to tease my son. All my focus immediately turned away from chatting and on to my son and this playground bully. I really tried my best to stay out of it and let my kiddo handle himself. I really did. That was until the punk kid said the worst thing one child could say to another child on the playground: he called my son a baby.

Oh, no you didn't.

So when the child's mother did not rush over (or even glance up from her cell phone) to reprimand her boy and apologize to my now crushed son, I had enough and decided to have a few words with the child myself. I very clearly laid it out that he was not to speak that way to my son again or he would have to deal with me. I then felt a few of the other moms' eyeballs on me, which then made me immediately feel regretful (you know, for being that mom). Then I decided they had all actually silently praised me as their playground hero, as this kid was also tormenting a few other kids — but especially because even the best of us have found ourselves involved in situations that cause hurt feelings for our children. It's called having a mama bear moment, and it's not always pretty. Not familiar? Here's how it goes down.