A Day in the Life of a Mom

As a mom sometimes days run into each other. A long, hard day velcros itself to an even longer, sleepless night. Back to back without a reprieve. The other night thunderstorms had Truvy restless and noisy. From 12:30 p.m. til 2:30 a.m. she rang her bells to go out, circled her bed, clicked her nails on our wood floors as she paced from room to room. I called her to bed. I commanded her to "go lay down".I even brought out the heavy...the pink, polka dotted jacket that she loathes to wear, but it often calms her as a thunder jacket might.
None of these things worked. In the end I found myself standing in the rain with weighted lids at nearly 3 am. At 5:30 a.m. Steve's alarm went off. I dozed for a few minutes before rising with him. I kissed him out the door at 6, then turned to Truvy who seemed bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to face the day.
 "Do you want to wake the kids?" But, before I got to the end of my question, she was already sitting outside Natalie's bedroom door. She was ready to get their day started. The morning was fraught with anticipation and a little anxiety on Nat's part. She was getting her braces off and was worried it would hurt or she'd gag while they took impressions to create her retainer.
Once we had successfully coaxed Truvy into the crate, we headed out the door at 7:15 a.m. to pick up our carpool, drop her off at school and then head to the orthodontist for an 8:30 a.m. appointment for both kids. An hour later we emerged from the office with one kid in braces and one without! Woo hoo! Back on the road I headed to Town & Country to drop Noah off at school then drove back to Webster Groves to drop Nat at her school. It was now almost 10 a.m. I returned home, released the beast and took advantage of the reprieve from rain. I walked the dog til 11 a.m then carried her to the car (as she is still less than enthusiastic about car rides) to take her to the vet for a flu shot. Once we returned home I tried unsuccessfully to load her back into the crate. At 12 noon I was back on the road again with my fluffy sidekick. This time we were headed back to Town & Country to pick Noah up from school at 12:30 as he had a half day. After dropping off our carpool Truvy dog began barfing in the backseat. It wasn't pretty-- the volume produced was actually quite epic especially since it was 1 p.m. and she hadn't eaten since 6 a.m. I pulled up to the house -- hosed out the car, hosed off the dog, hosed off myself then drove to McD's because I had promised to take Noah out to lunch. As I turned into the drive through I realized I could no longer ignore the searing headache -- a vice pressing on either side of my temples. I returned home -- apparently Mother of the Year to my son who loves cheeseburgers almost as much as he loves Star Wars. I took a shower and put myself to bed. It was now nearly 3 p.m. At 3:30 p.m. I was bolted from sleep as Truvy greeted Natalie with a hearty welcome and Nat made a beeline for my room.
"Mom, my permanent retainer fell out today at lunch."
Then Noah suddenly appeared and although it had been less than two hours since he ate lunch..."Mom, what's for dinner?"
This account is typical for me and likely commonplace for many moms.

I'm happy to report that today -- this Mother's Day I didn't have many to do's on my docket and bickering between the kids was mild. Noah made me a card and sang karaoke -- Elton John's "I'm Still Standing". How apropos. Natalie made me a card, a "chore voucher" and a worry pin (complete with a clothesline to hang it on). Steve played it safe and expressed his love with Kakao's chocolate caramels.  He's a smart man.
To all the strong women out there caring, cooking, cleaning and keeping their children from killing one another  -- Happy Mother's Day to you!

You Might be a Parent to a 6 Year old Girl If...

You might be a parent to a 6 year old girl if...
 * a stuffed animal is treated as a fashion accessory 

* you've been asked to find her some Chemical X so she can become a super hero

* you curse the makers of Polly Pocket on a regular basis

* pink is considered a neutral color

* high pitched squeals are particles of speech 

* you've ever called up a friend at night to say "I have a glitter emergency."

Last week Natalie just would not let go of the idea of catching a fairy.  She set another trap, but this time included a few more enticing pieces that she felt sure no sprite could resist -- like a teeny tiny wand from her Little People castle set, a few cranberries to munch and a pistachio shell filled with water to wash it all down.  She also left scraps of paper and broke several crayons into pieces to make it easy for a fairy to write - should the mood strike her.  

"I just gotta catch one tonight to prove that they are real," Natalie shared.

After I put her to bed, I realized that eating the berries and leaving a note wasn't going to cut it.  I needed to leave her more proof...in hopes of prolonging her sweet creative innocence. So, that night at 9 p.m. I actually left a voicemail for Gen, my craft-loving neighbor and friend, to say I had a glitter emergency.  I felt that since she was a mother of three girls, she'd completely understand my pickle.  Within minutes I received a call back from her.

"Glitter? Yep. Got it.  I'll bring it to your house in 15 minutes," she said.

I love my neighbors...I mean most neighbors are willing to lend a cup of sugar or spare an egg, but it takes a special one to get in their car at night after a full day of wrangling their own little gremlins to hand deliver some silver sparkles.

In the morning Natalie awoke upset with herself for falling asleep.  

"I was supposed to stay up all night to catch a fairy!" she whined.

"Hmmm...maybe we should check to see if one visited," I suggested.

Natalie immediately bolted out of bed and headed for the front porch.  She came back a couple minutes later to report that she found a note and there was this silver glitter all over everything.

"See! Fairies do exist.  Don't you think that stuff is fairy dust?" I inquired.

"No, it's not." she assured me.

"What? Of course it is!" I said

"Fairy dust is a lot smaller than this and it's gold not silver.  I've seen it on T.V." she explained.

"Well, maybe you can't believe everything you see on T.V." I countered.

"Yea, well I know it's not real fairy dust." she replied.

"How do you know?" I asked

"Because I already tried sprinkling it on my arms and it didn't make me fly," she challenged.

"That's because a fairy is tiny and only needs a little bit of dust to fly.  You are much bigger...you would need a cupful!" I replied.

As Natalie paused to consider my reasoning, I held my breath that she would accept it.  She responded with a heavy sigh and turned around and headed to her room to ponder a better trap.  

I sighed too...partly out of relief, but also because I know I can't make all of her dreams come true.  As a parent you just want to make the impossible a reality for your kids.  You want them to dream big even if their dreams are far-fetched.  At that moment I just wished I could make it happen...with just one phone call...Hello Gen? Yea, I'm gonna need a lot more glitter.

All In the Family

Yesterday Natalie asked me to play "stuffed animals" with her.  And, I admit I was a little unprepared for the rules of the game.  She and I are so different.  When I was her age, I was interested in crafts, coloring and any and all board games -- Candyland, Checkers and Connect Four were favorites.  Natalie, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with any of those things. Sure, I had Barbies, too...but I wasn't the type of kid to launch into any sort of real imaginative play with my dolls.  I was more interested in doing their hair and dressing them up for a big Barbie & Ken wedding.  So, when I went to reach for one of her bears she shrieked, "Mom! they must be in family order."

Huh?

Which led to this convo in which Natalie explains the "rules" to me:

Natalie: "Mom, they need to be in family order so they can have a happy ending."
Me: "But you put Twinkle (the purple racoon-like critter) with the dogs.  How come?"
Natalie: "Because she has no mom, but needs somebody."
Me: "Why did you throw polar bear on the floor and not put him with the other bears?
Natalie: "Because he has no wife and so he can't be in the circle."
Me: "What other rules are there for playing stuffed animals?
Natalie: "Mrs. Cat and Mr. Ladybug go with the cats because she's big and he's big so they go together. And, Gigi Giraffe and Sparkles the Horse go together because they are both kinda horses."
Me: "Who is your favorite?"
Natalie: "Mr. & Mrs. Bear and sister bear and baby bear."
Me: "Why?"
Natalie:   "Because they are family."
So, while Natalie and I are very different, it seems she shares my sentiment for what is most important in life.

I can live with that.