But He's So Cute...

Last night I went into Joey's room, because of the odd noises I was hearing, to find him perched on the dresser placing wipes on the lightbulb in the lamp in his room.

"Joey, what are you doing?  That isn't safe."
"I know, Mommy.  Remember when there was smoke?"
"What?!  Get down!"

This morning I went into Joey's room to find all of the dresser drawers open and every article of clothing on the floor.

"Joey, are you going to pick that up?"
"Nope."

On Mondays, I have to bribe Joey with iPad usage and lollipops in order to get him into the pool for swimming lessons, to stay in the pool at swimming lessons, and to listen to the teacher.  That poor teacher.   She seems like the sweetest 17-21 year old girl, who clearly has more patience than I.   Week after week she kindly asks Joey not to splash her or his classmates, to please stay seated on the steps until his turn, and regularly rescues him from near drowning jumps into water which he refuses to remember is too deep for him to stand in.   Sometimes, I want to hide, so the other mother's who are also paying for lessons and whose children are not getting the same attention because of my child's antics, can't shoot their judgement at me.

He is my second child; he is three; he is a boy-- I'm sure all of these are contributors to this behavior.  But I still cover my eyes and shake my head, while the woman sitting next to me says, "But he's so cute."

Indeed he is, and it's a good thing.

Yes, I am Mom Enough

Everyone is talking about it.  Okay, maybe not everyone, because I have asked a few people and they had no idea what I was talking about.  I did not read the actual article posted in Time, but I read countless posts and blogs, both supporting the article and those offended by the article.  And I feel that i have a voice, and it is important that I use it.  Would I nurse until my children were three, well, I have a three year old and, no, I wouldn't.  Did I nurse my children. Yes, I did.  I also had a (close your eyes squeamish) a vaginal (oh!) birth, and I didn't use drugs.  And I know so many wonderful mothers who did have an epidural or a c-section.  Does that somehow make them less of a mother?  I also know amazing women who adopted, in fact, if it weren't for adoption I would not be married to the most amazing man I know.  Does that make my mother-in-law less of a mother?

I must repeat, I did not read the actual article, but the title alone was enough.  We do what we can, what we are capable of, to be the best mothers we can be to our children.  We feed them, we love them, we tuck them in, we give them shelter, we hug them, we kiss them, we grow them in our wombs, we grow them in our hears, we obsess over scrapes and bruises and rashes and bug bites, we lose sleep, we lose hair, we lose waist lines, we are all mom enough whether we nurse for one month, ten months, thirty-six months, or no months.   Because once you fine out you are going to be a mother, no matter how that happens, you are mom enough.

To all the mothers I have, and I assure you there are a lot, and to all the mothers I know, you are all mom enough and to the mothers to be, you will be, too.  Sleep easy, friends.

Happy Mother's Day.

Missed Callings

1.  Of course, color namer

2. Mason

3. Animated voice person

4. Children's musician, I'm pretty sure I could dominate the country kids music circuit if I could play an instrument.  Title track: "Whining never Wins"

5.  Fact checker

6. Professional name rememberer for someone important

7. Stained glass artist - I know nothing about this, but pretty sure if I did I would crush it.

I'm sure there are more, but at the moment, this list will have to do.