Everything you know if you are the mother of your friend group

I am 18 years old and am a mother to many. A sort of second mother, if you will. I am the mother of my friend group. It began as a simple joke due to my endless nervous, compulsive,  tendencies to protect. But, it is a perfect description of my role among my friends.

There are plenty of others like me in many friend groups and this is what each one of us young mothers know to be true.

Bossiness is a must

Herding a group of your friends is no easy task. We all talk over on another and are turning constantly in different directions. Someone needs to snap everyone into alertness and in order to do that you need to break out that harsh tone. We mothers are not afraid to let out some slightly shrill commands and kick it into gear. How else would things get done?

The only way plans can be made and made correctly is when you are in control

You know to allow everyone’s voice to be heard and taken into consideration. There is an impeccable balance that is discovered amongst preference and practicality and we know how to find it. At times it requires blatant printed schedules, a list of rules to maintain the chaos on a long trip, or even just simply a long text to at least provide an overview. Us mothers know how to find all the possible weak spots in plans and patch them.

You know the answers to all cleaning disasters

Whether it is a mysterious stain on a carpet, or puke from last night, the mothers of the friend group can resolve it. We know the benefits and curses of the innate sense to clean. For instance,  how we never go to bed before the mess we made throughout the night is cleaned, but also the satisfaction of waking up to a clean space knowing you were productive.

We judge our friends for their obviously poor/dangerous mistakes but we almost find them charming

We have honest anxiety when we hear about half of the things our friends do when we are not around: climbing ropes courses, sneaking into abandoned warehouses, impulse tattoos, hooking up with the wrong guys, and tanning. Though they survive it without you stoping them and allow you to at least admire their bravery that you yourself will never have.

Though in the end, when your friends accomplish something you are so proud

They put you through nights of worrying, endless cringes, and exhaust you on a daily basis, but it all helps us take true pride in them. When they got into their dream college, got that job, or even just asked if they could help clean up it makes it all worth it. Because in all honesty, we mothers all love being in control and truly enjoy caring for our friends.

All in all, we may nag but it is because we love, and we do not just mother everyone, we mother the ones we care about.