I'm a Mom

Sometimes my children wipe some sort of slime on my purple sweater and it looks like a snail slid across my chest.
Sometimes I wear that slimed purple sweater into public places, not because I want to be a slob but because the trail is in a place I can't see.

Sometimes my children scream in the grocery store because I won't give them what they want, like cookies.
Sometimes I see the other people looking at the woman with the screaming children, and know they are wishing they could shop in peace. I wish I could shop in peace, too.

Sometimes I want to cuddle on the couch and watch a fun romantic movie with my husband, but the laundry still needs folded.
Sometimes he helps me as we watch the latest reality show, I count it as a date.

Sometimes there is an unidentifiable red splotch on the kitchen floor, but no one sticks to it.
Sometimes I don't mop for a really long time.
Sometimes the red splotch fades away carried in tiny parts on socks.
Sometimes I think that is gross and I mop.
Sometimes I think that is gross and want to mop, but there are books to be read, babies to be fed, and I'm the only one who sees the splotch.

I'm not perfect.

But as you look at this slimed woman with the screaming children who folded laundry into the night and hasn't mopped her kitchen in a while, remember

• she was slimed because she gave a child a hug or comforted a babe,
• she cares more about the character of her children than their momentary happiness,
• she will sacrifice her wants for her family's needs and find the blessing in what she has,
• she is going to chose those books, babies, art, walks, and smiles over the mopping, not everyday but enough for her children to know they are loved,
• she is going to keep a home clean and peaceful enough for her husband to know she loves him.

I am a mom. Perhaps I should tack this to my mirror.

Random "happenings" at my home this morning...

I am looking out my window watching the beautiful snow fall! Wow! How peaceful and quiet it looks out there!

Still in my PJ's...(seeing as how it's just 9am on a Saturday, I have at least until 2pm before I have to think about getting dressed!)

Fire burning in the wood burner...

Ginger bread dough is awaiting to be rolled, cut, baked and iced!

Christmas lights twinkling all around...

Christmas music playing...

My kids playing nicely together for...20 minutes now!

"Can we go outside NOW mommy!" just broke the "silence!"

Mom

Thursday Thirteen

You know your a mom when

1. You keep catching a whiff of spit-up but can't quite figure out where it is coming from. You suspect it is you.
2. You go to the store without changing your shirt while suspecting that you are wearing spit-up.
3. You can have two conversations at one time.
4. Fingerprints appearing on freshly cleaned windows doesn't surprise you.
5. You can recite a variety of books from memory.
6. You get a dog so your kitchen floor can be clean.
7. You aren't embarrassed when a child starts singing a song about poop in the middle of the store.
8. You don't realize the composer is your child because you started tuning out her voice when she started talking to her imaginary family.
9. You consider telling her to stop singing about poop, but know you will then have to have a conversation about poop in the store. And since you make it a point not to discuss poop in public, decide that a song about poop isn't the worst thing in the world.
10. Nap time is your second favorite time of day following bedtime.
11. You know what an "Ebay Day" is and feels like.
12. You understand why it is dangerous to get between a mama bear and her cubs.
13. Even in the middle of an Ebay Day no one dare hurt one of you little ones for there is nothing better than the "I love you, Mommy," of your child.
    

Doctor's Visits

Tuesday I went for a doctor's appointment. I've hit the weekly stage. There is plenty of time to think waiting at the ob/gyns. Thought I'd share (possible TMI).

Basic Observations

1. Peeing in a plastic cup the size of a shot glass becomes increasingly difficult as your belly grows increasingly larger. I would like a cup with handles.
2. Jerry Springer though conversation inspiring is not what the majority of women waiting want to see.
3. Drug reps who walk right in after I've been waiting half an hour beyond the time of my appointment frustrate me.
4. The group B strep test is birth control.
5. So is the hour and a half waiting at the office when the appointment takes all of two minutes and involves a tape measure and doppler machine.
6. I've been with a clinic before where I had my choice of four doctors and to physician assistants. They are no more on-time than a one doctor, one physician office where I know who will deliver my baby.

For the Doctor

1. Making a me wait with no pants on for 30 minutes guarantees you a frustrated woman.
2. Asking me about a lost pregnancy every visit because you haven't read the problems drives me crazy.
3. I truly like my doctor. I truly dislike being pregnant (though I am thrilled with the outcome and our ability to have a baby.) It is a love hate relationship I have with you.

For Women

1. The man you choose to bring will embarrass you. Not because he means to, but because he doesn't want to be in the ob/gyn's office and he gets bored with daytime talk. Even I want to throw bits of rotten food at Rachel Ray and the Ladies of the View. (Guess what time my appointments usually are.)
   
2. Your children could fall off the spinning doctor's stool if you let them play on it because every other method of distraction has failed.
3. The beautiful women in the pregnancy magazines are professionally dressed, professionally made up, and air-brushed. And no store in Uniontown sells those cute dresses.
4. You will gather more information from and give more information to the other women (and their men and children) than you thought possible. Even when your plan is to read something you have been wanting to read for weeks.

A Bonus

1. Drinking in order to be sure you are prepared for the required bathroom visit before you leave for the appointment only assures your discomfort as the wait alone is long enough to fill your bladder.