A day in my life...

For those of you who don't yet have children, or who have children who are younger, this is what you have to look forward to:

There will come a day when your children are in early elementary school when you figure that they are old enough to be left to their own devices while you take a shower.  You will get them settled at the kitchen table, coloring nicely.  You will set the ground rules: "No answering the door. No answering the phone.  If you need me I will be in the shower."  They will say "ok mom" and into the shower you will hop.

Then it happens.  You will be just about to rinse the shampoo from your hair when you hear the blood-curdling scream of "Moooooooommmmmmyyyyyy!"  The thoughts that go through your mind first are: Where is the hand gun and where is my cell phone?  You will jump out of the shower, stubbing your big toe on the shower door, run out the bathroom door, slipping and sliding all the way.  You arrive in the kitchen with a hand gun in one hand, the emergency response team on your phone in the other, shampoo dripping into your eyes, and nothing on but your birthday suit.  Then your child will look at you and say:

"Never mind, I found the red crayon."

Bad Mommy Moments

Do you ever have one of those days when you just really suck at being a parent?  Today is my sucky Mommy day.

Our school makes a big deal out of having good attendance.  One of the ways we show our appreciation to the kids and their families for getting their kids to school on time, every day, is by having monthly perfect attendance breakfasts.  Last month Lauren's dad took her, and this month she asked if I would take her.

Today we were running late because Jason was out of town for work, so it was just me getting the kids around and out the door in the morning.  This never ends well, and usually one of us ends up in tears.  Today I thought I had done a pretty good job, despite the fact that we had no milk in the house for breakfast.  No matter, we were out the door in plenty of time to stop at Casey's for some donuts. (Which totally makes up for not feeding my kids at home right?)  I dropped the kids at the daycare that walks them to school for me, and went on my way and on with my morning routine.  Then I see Lauren at my classroom door.

For those of you who don't know, I teach in Spanish every day, all day long, and when Lauren comes to my room for one thing or another she is expected to speak to me in Spanish.  So today she says: "Mama, hoy es el dia de Perfect Attendance......" and proceeds to break down crying.  Oh pobrecita!  I feel about THIS big (picture me practically squeezing my fingers together to represent how tiny I feel)!

I made all sorts of promises of taking her out for a special breakfast, letting her come to the craft fair with me tomorrow, etc.  Finally, I asked her if she wanted to call her dad to tell him what a horrible mom I am.  So......she did.  Somehow, hearing all those promises from him made her feel better....and me feel worse.  But who can blame her right?  I had let her down.  Lesson learned. :(