Every Mom Makes Mistakes (right?)

Dawn gave me this Mom of the Year Award (thanks Dawn!)

and it could not have come at a better time.

One of the rules of the award is that you have to post a bad-mom moment, and I had to laugh because I recently had not one, but two.

Our two little ones are playing Upward basketball. With such activities, you always have picture day. And picture day always seems to mess with my head. You have to be there early, looking decent and have $ ready to shell out.

Two Saturdays ago, Ellie had a one o'clock basketball game. I was at lunch with my mom and sister and my dad was planning to take Ellie to her game, me to come later. My cell phone rings as I am enjoying a leisurely lunch and it is Ellie's coach. "Hey," he says in an even voice, "we are all here getting ready to take team pictures. Are you all coming?" Oh man, my heart sinks and my face turns red. I didn't want to tell him that actually, NO, I had totally forgotten, that I was stuffing my face full of chips and salsa, and that Ellie wasn't even with me, so I said, "well, my dad is bringing her, but I didn't tell them about pictures. Just take pictures without us. Sorry." I feel horrible, but we go on with lunch. The phone rings again, "We don't want a picture without Ellie in it. We're going to rearrange and take the picture afterwards." Ok that is soooo nice, but I feel like a heel. Everyone knows that it is me, Loser-mom, who has inconvenienced everyone. I know it doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but one thing I may not have told you about myself is that I HATE making mistakes. I'm not a perfectionsist per se, but making mistakes, forgetting something, especially in front of other just makes me feel like dirt.

Fast forward one week. Luke had a 9 AM basketball game. I thought I was doing great to have all the kids up and ready by 8:30. Tom was out of town, and you know how hard that can be flying solo. However, there was no fighting, everyone was wearing the correct uniform and I was feeling like Supermom. Phone rings. It's Luke's coach this time: "Uh... we're here waiting for you all... trying to get our team pictures taken." CRUD. My heart sinks again. I sigh as I say to him, "well, I'm so sorry. You'll have to take them without us." I get off the phone, but it rings again. Get here as fast as you can. We don't want a picture without Luke. Wow. That is so great... as I stand there in my robe with no makeup on. So, I jump into clothes and we take out there like madmen. It took us a full 15 minutes to get there, and I am so mad at myself the whole flying way. As we walk in, I begin apologizing to the coach. But guess who is there? Of all people? Ellie's coach. His son is having pictures at the same time.

oh my.

So on to the next rule and that is this: to list 7 things your love about your kids, doing with your kids or that your kids love about you.

1) I love to hold their warm, little and sometimes grubby hands.
2) I love to hear them laugh.
3) I love to enjoy each of their very different and distinct characteristics.
4) I love to hear the funny things they say.
5) I love to discover a quality in them that I do not possess.
6) I love to hear them express their faith in God through simple ways.
7) I love to see them interact with family - their dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

I surely LOVE being a mom, bad-mom days and all.

And who to pass this out to?
I'll try some of my dear out-of-town friends:
Shannon @ IA Pilot Wife
Kim @ KimNOW
Roxanne @ Roxanne Kristina
Rena @ Insert Grace Now
Kathleen @ Treasured Chapters

Here are the official rules:

1) Admit that ONE thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. Get it off your shoulders. Once you've written it down, you are NO LONGER allowed to feel bad. It's over with, it's in the past. Remember, you're a good mom!

2) To remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list SEVEN things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. These are the things to remind yourself of EVERY DAY that you rock!

3) Send this to FIVE other Moms of the Year that deserve forgiveness and a reminder that they, too, are the best moms they can be!!! Remember to send them a note to let them know you've selected them, and add a link to the person who nominated you!"

Solid as a Rock

As I sit here and watch the clock tick painfully by, waiting for airline updates (Kami's flight from Raleigh just boarded - see previous post for Kami's flight problems!)......

I'm thinking about telling on myself, a bad mom story, involving Kami. Rena did it last night, as did Roxanne a few days ago... so here goes...

When Tom is out of town, my strings get pulled a little tighter. I talk faster, I think harder and I don't laugh quite as much.

This was a day that he had been out of town for several days, so I was probably pulled as tight as Grandma's clothesline.

Kami had quite a busy schedule that day:
12:00 - bball game in Jenks
1:00 piano recital @ Barnes and Noble,
2:00 bball game @ Central H.S.

We obviously had to be well-prepared, and I drilled Kami on her bag... making sure she had everything she needed in it. Long story short, the first bball game was running late and Kami was crushed... PLEASE Mom, can I play longer than we planned? A quick call to the piano teacher got Kami last on the recital list and all was well.

UNTIL... we were about 3 miles from the bookstore and Kami realized THAT SHE HAD FORGOTTEN HER SHOES!!!!! All she had to wear for her recital were her Nike high tops OR bare feet.

To a piano recital @ Barnes and Noble? Oooh Hoooo. I don't think so. (Pride speaking)

At this point, I was pulled so tight, I was about to break and I started yelling (yelling!) WHY DID YOU FORGET YOUR SHOES? We are NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!

Unfortunately, as I raced the streets back to our house to pick up her silvery little flats, I continued to harrass her. I now cringe. But I truly thought it was over. I thought there was NO WAY we could make it back to the bookstore on time. (especially given 71st and Memorial traffic!)

And only by the grace of God did we. I drove up to the bookstore, tires smoking, only then realizing that my poor child who I had been so angry with for the last 10-12 minutes, was supposed to play 5 piano pieces in PUBLIC! Something she had never done before. How could she pull off such a feat?

With a minute to go and memories of mom's words certainly ringing through her ears, the sweet baby walked up to the piano and pounded out 5 pieces, some by memory.

Not a mistake made she. Solid as a rock. A testament to HER strength of character, not mine. Excuse me, I need to go eat some humble pie now. In front of the fire. As I wait for that sweet baby to come home.

Carrie is so Very....

FABULOUS!!! Thanks to a great Papa who bought us all tickets, we got to go see Carrie Underwood on Wednesday night. It could have been a disaster... it was a school night, Kami had a 102 fever, Ellie fell asleep and then had a nosebleed, my head was hurting.... but Carrie Underwood was so very talented and just... well... comfortable! It was honestly a really pleasant experience, like it was your best friend up there performing. Even though we had lots of obstacles to overcome (including the fact that I had no kleenex to clean up Ellie's nosebleed, only a *clean* pair of underwear in my purse - that's all I'll say about that), the night was well worth it. Ok, Ok, I know you're probably still caught up on that "Kami had a 102 fever" part. I will confess.... I poured some Ibuprofen down her and drug her (willingly!) to the concert. The medicine kicked in and she felt ok the entire time.