Authentic Momming!

Oh, the shame of it all!  Imagine having to tell the Pre-K teacher that “I’ll do better tomorrow!”  (sheepish downcast eyes)

I am SOOOOO happy to be in Northern California spending some time with my oldest son & family, 5 days of which are watching my three awesome grandchildren while their parents are on a well-deserved trip!  And, YES, I am up to the task!  I can handle this!  I managed to raise 3 awesome kids to be ‘Socially Acceptable Adults’ with one hand tied behind my back.  I expect this to be a piece of cake.

Day 1 – The lucky travelers leave at 6 AM.   Kiss & Hug good bye & I stay up to make a lunch for the youngest, hot chocolate for 30 for the oldest to take to school, and review my notes, directions and timing for the day.  And, she’s off…..

Oh no… it takes longer to focus Pre-K Jamie than I thought and we are just about 30 seconds late.   Classroom door is already shut.  🙁  But, it’s only 30 seconds, this is a fluke, right? Otherwise, I’m feeling virtuous… I’ve got this!

That is, until I go back to pick him up – on time, but can’t find the meet up spot – realize I was standing 30 feet away from them the entire time. He is one of 3 other stragglers sitting with the teacher, waiting for delinquent pick ups.  OK, no problem, I’ll know exactly where to go tomorrow.

And, then it happens…

The teacher was so very tactful, she hid her dismay at my skills so well when she said kindly, “He had his pants on backwards all day – we just left it so as not to embarrass him.”  “AND… he didn’t have his backpack or lunch, but don’t worry we fed him.”  (Of course you did,  YOU are prepared for wayward Mom’s and Grandma’s who just haven’t nailed it all yet.)  I could SWEAR it was in the car when we left.  Oh, yeah, and it’s still in the car.  Once at home it became apparent that somehow underwear did not get put on that morning – oh, that may have had something to do with them not wanting to turn his jeans around.

Ugh 🙁 Sorry Mrs. W.
“I’ll do better tomorrow!”

Day 2 – Fifth grader, Mikey, has a big County Fair game project.  We worked on said project last night.  It’s all ready 7:24 AM “Oh, no I forgot to make the sign!”  Sign?? You need a sign?  Uh oh.  What… you can’t find the cardboard – don’t know how to make bubble letters.  Let’s just keep it simple and just write it out with a marker.  No, you need bubble letters.  7:30 – time to leave for school and starting over, he doesn’t like the look.  “Can you go w/o the sign?”  “No?”  “OK, you get packed up, I’ll make it.”   5 minutes later he is off to school, 15 minutes late. 🙁  There is reassurance that this is an early ‘optional’ class, but come on, I know I can do this.  Why didn’t I ask him about the sign last night?

All is well in the end, game was a big HIT!  Not sure anyone noticed the sign – it did not make it back home!

Ok… I’ve got this now.  Just getting my Mom flow on!

Did knock it out of the park with Grandma Mary’s famous Chicken Tacos.  Seconds?  Thirds? Yes, of course!  FINALLY, some acknowledgement that I haven’t completely forgotten all my Momming young kids skills.

Later that day – Pre-K grandson spending some time at a friends after school.  Tells them his Grandma Mary works for Pokemon and she can pretty much get them any card they want! Tells me that he learns about Pokemon all day at school, “It’s pretty much just Pokemon School.”

I am dubious.

But he is very excited that he learned 2 new words from me today. Friction and syllable.  Ah, something I can excel at!

“I’m going to tell Mrs. W I learned a new word today!”  Oh, please tell her that Grandma Mary taught it to you. She can’t dress you or get your lunch in the building, but she knows about friction and how many syllables words have!

He didn’t.  I’ll have to redeem myself on my own.   Is there any chocolate around here??

Day 3 – It’s Saturday! Less busy, and on track!  Learning to plan ahead… FAR ahead!  Have everything handy – hover just a little to keep everyone on time.  Let’s go to Chipotle for dinner guys!  And, maybe I’ll buy some chocolate!  (I did – 88% dark)

Pre-K comes over for a cuddle.  “Do you know how much Grandma Mary loves you?”
Pre-K, “Uh… infinity?”
Me, “Nope, infinity x infinity x infinity +1.”
Pre-K “Oh, that’s good!”  Yep, it is!!  Earns me a big hug, too!

And, earned some Grandma Street Cred with High Schooler, Maddie, with intel for her ‘Assassins’ Nerf gun game.  Elaborate weeks long game of intrigue, negotiation and deceit!  Caught two of her classmates lurking in the bushes ready to ambush her.  Family honor is on the line here… “You guys are BUSTED!”

I believe Mom’s & Grandma’s are doing a great job.  Doing the best they can with what they have at the moment.  This experience helped get me back in the trenches and regain some perspective, and I am SO totally rockin’ the rest of the week!

We’ve got this!  But… all kids are different and schedules, and expectations… take some getting used to.  And, it just keeps changing as they do, right?  Be easy on yourselves Mom’s and Grandma’s!   Laugh at yourself a little more, and play with the kids a lot more!  Leave the dishes for later.

Renewed appreciation for all the Mommy’s out there who are doing this every day – fueled by coffee &/or chardonnay AND lots of head over heels love for their kids.  They are getting it all done, sleeping a little, then starting all over the next day!  We’re not perfect, but we are all striving to give our kids the best life possible.  I’m learning right along side you.

Mom’s are the HEART of the home, the ‘True North’ of the family.  To honor you I will share some of my best Mom hacks on the Mothers’ Manual Blog, especially around family health – my passion.

In the meantime, I’ll be busy making sure kids are wearing underpants, have their jeans on the right way, arrive on time & get all their projects and laundry done. But mostly, making sure the kids know they are loved and that I am so proud of them.

I am humbled fellow Mom’s… My hat’s off to you tired ladies!

We’ll ALL do even better tomorrow! 🙂