The Mommy Brigade

Many eons ago, I used to work in retail. I worked the early morning stock shift for most of my time and like clock work every day at 9am the store would open. And every day at 8:45am, the cars started to appear outside. One by one they came and as soon as the doors opened at 9am, they stormed in. Moms with strollers and kids...lots of them. I can't even tell you how many times I rolled my eyes and said "oh geez here comes the mommy brigade." I just couldn't understand why these parents with their kids couldn't wait to get into the store the minute it opened.

Fast forward a few years and here I am, waiting outside of the museum for it to open. I look around me and see other families doing the same...I understand their secret now. It's a small thing (or maybe a big thing) that you are blissfully unaware of until you have kids. The thing of it is is most kids I know are at their peak from the hours of 8:30am-11:30am. That's right, a 3 hour window where all of your dreams (and errands) come true. A magical time when you haven't hit the bitter hunger of lunch or the evil crabbiness of nap time. Don't get me wrong, to survive an outing you will need  a morning snack and a lovie but it can be done.

More than just a magical time for families to get out of the house, it is a time for unspoken motherly bonding. That's right, all moms know about these few precious hours and they all take advantage of them. That's why every early trip to the store or every outing to the latest play place is full of other parents and their kids. This is when you realize you're not alone and take comfort in the company of others going through the exact same thing. Case in point, we went to visit the aquarium a while back and there they were...other kids demanding snacks and toddlers falling mercilessly to the ground. The place was chalk full of families and there seemed to be an abundance of tantruming toddlers. Every few feet there was another screaming explosion and subsequent crumble to the floor. It was like a minefield with shards of crackers and fruit snacks framing the destructive path. But it was music to my ears! It was the undeniable affirmation that I am not alone in all of this. The rest of the army does come out to do battle in public places. We don't even need to look each other in the eye to know we are all on the same team. It's like an invisible force field of understanding and I love it.

So there you have it, the tale of the mommy brigade. Mystery solved. It's just one of the many small parts of motherhood that you can't know about until you are a part of it. Still have more burning questions and other parenting mysteries you need to solve? We will be out there. Don't be afraid to approach us, just look for us by dawns early light.

Independence Day

First, I want to semi-apologize for ignoring this space for a little while.  The copious amounts of brain power I use for work seem to paralyze me for the remainder of the day, every day and if I so much look at a keyboard after work, I go cross eyed! I am grateful for the challenges at work but being so mentally exhausted leaves little time for anything else. Beyond that, I am just going through the motions to get everything else done every week with some fun sprinkled in there of course, but even going just slightly above and beyond the norm is draining. I seem to be on one of those merry-go-rounds where you can see things happening on the outside but be damned if you can actually jump off to your freedom. Oh, and speaking of jumping, Emma climbed out of her crib on Saturday. I KNOW! Apparently my little princess was not pleased with her napping arrangements, mainly the fact that she had been asked to go to sleep. 

I am still reeling from the experience and the shock is still very fresh considering that the night before last she climbed out of her crib twice! I was not the parent on duty for the first or third escapades but I did witness the tail end of the second escape and it is no joke. Here’s the scene:  I’m in the kitchen enjoying my popcorn (yes this is where I hide to eat food I don’t want to share with a certain toddler and apparently I just eat every meal in there now out of habit) when I hear a loud thump followed by short squeal. My mommy senses were tingling so I dropped my popcorn and ran to investigate. 

I threw open the door to Emma’s room and the only way I can describe the scene is to reference one of those scary movie trailers. You know the eyes have walls or the hills where there’s a cabin or something like that where the protagonist opens the door to the nursery and just a slight beam of light comes streaming in from the hallway. Out of the corner of her eye she sees a small, shadowy figure eerily scurry from one side of the light to the other and then disappear into the darkness. The audience is completely aghast and mystified because in this seemingly ordinary house with this straight and narrow family, how could there be a disturbance such as this! Especially since their little princess is in BED sleeping! It must be a ghost or a ghoul or some evil monster lurking just beyond the safety of the hallway glow. The mother pushes the door open even wider and with an unsettling squeak the shadow is revealed to be….a mischievous little girl sitting in her chair instead of sleeping soundly in her bed. At least she didn’t say “red rum” then I would have REALLY lost it!

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I appreciate and value Emma’s independence but I just wish it hadn’t happened so soon. I feel like time just lapsed and in a blink this particular milestone somehow moved forward 5 months. I mean why couldn’t this be the time when she POTTY TRAINS?!??! (BTW no movement on that front).  Call me crazy but for now we are leaving her crib up. Until she is venturing out of it nightly or at least on a more consistent basis, we will hold off on the “big girl bed.” I also know lots of moms seem to have a tough time deciding whether or not to go with a toddler bed or a regular twin bed for the “big kid bed.” Well I unknowingly skipped the drama and made my decision when I chose Emma’s crib because it turns into a toddler bed with a built in rail! And I’m actually pretty excited for her to use it since it will still technically be her old familiar surroundings (i.e. same mattress etc.). It will just be set up so she can easily climb in and out of, which I have no doubt she will be thrilled to do, but which I am hoping we can somehow magically hold off on for another month or so. I fully plan on getting her a twin size bed as soon as the crib needs to be passed on (not for a while still.) 

So, that’s what we’ve been up to. I’m hoping this weekend and next week I can break away from my junk tv coma and actually get a few more posts up! I’m working on one to share our experiences  from gymnastics!! Until then, love to you all!