My friend jokingly refers to me as super mom. I laugh at her face and tell her she's crazy. Without really trying, I tried to be "that mom" today. That super mom that I aspire to, work toward and frequently fall short of attaining.
I had grandiose plans to wake up early, work out and get a shower before the kids awoke. At 6:00 am I am on the ground of my bedroom, crunching my first crunch when Elliana walks in, saying she is unable to sleep. I tried to swallow my bitterness at my only scheduled "me" time was now foiled, so I strongly encouraged her to return to bed and jumped into the shower to at least get one of my goals met.
My shower was interrupted three times by that same cute child, making requests, and demanding attention. I smiled and tried my best to be "that mom."
I made a hot, fresh and HEALTHY breakfast. French toast, bacon, fresh fruit and orange juice. I spent too much of my morning cleaning, cooking and directing my children. Post breakfast I was greeted with a high five and a "good job Mom on making breakfast!" So...that gave me encouragement to keep it up.
I attempted to hem Maya's dress which I goofed on last week, so that the girls could wear their matching dresses. That didn't work out too well, so we raided their closets until we found matching outfits (per their requests).
Fast forward, we dropped Elliana off at school. Maya and I ran errands and returned to school an hour later to volunteer for lunch duty. Maya fussed and cried the first two lunch duties, and when Elliana's class had arrived she was onto the "duty" part and tried removing lunch boxes from the table while children were eating, and then eagerly throwing away food when the kids were finished.
After lunch, I realized I managed to pack lunches for the girls and none for me. Hmm...diet pepsi and candy bar for lunch it is! Yep, pretty sure super mom WOULDN'T do that.
Maya threw tantrums in two different stores while we continued to run errands, maximize coupons and wait until pick up time for Elliana. I left both stores with both of us in tears. Awesome.
We came home and the girls played/fought for a while while I locked myself in the bathroom trying to maintain some sanity or at least not lose my cool. In my mind I ran through the list of to-do's and thought maybe checking some items off my list would help.
I went to my happy place and tuned out the girls as I made some zucchini bread. My first attempt and I must admit it smells awesome. Hopefully it tastes as good as it smells. I put the girls to nap time and stepped over the Polly Pockets and Barbies to plop on the couch. And I admit, it feels good!
The caffeine and sugar is hitting my blood, the dirty dishes from baking and cooking are piled up in the sink and I am listening to my baby cry (who STILL hasn't napped). I'm not as stressed as I was earlier. I know I'm no supermom. And I feel good knowing I don't have to try to be "that mom." I'm just a mom. I have good days and bad. Good minutes and bad. And that's okay.
One day, there will be no Polly Pockets to climb over or Barbies to dress constantly. One day, there will be an opportunity to take my time in the restroom. One day, there will be an opportunity to watch a 40-minute television show without interruptions or taking 4 days to complete. Those days aren't in my forecast any time soon. What is in my forecast....smiles, hugs, cuddles and laughter. And that...is worth more than gold.
