I'm THAT mom ...

Recently, I've come to the horrifying realization that I have become ... THAT mom. Uh huh, you know the one. The one who takes what seems like a half an hour to load her kids in or out of her car while people are waiting to get in or out of their car and/or parking spot. The one whose baby starts screaming (and I mean SCREAMING) while waiting in one of the several ridiculously long lines at Costco, only to realize that the life-saving binkie has been left in the car or (worse!) at home, so she has to rescue the screaming child from his car seat, and somehow figure out how to maneuver her giant cart one-handed, all while trying to occupy the impatient preschooler riding up front, then (not done yet!) unload her equally giant Costco-size groceries (yes, still one-handed) without nudging the babe from the only single position that seems to comfort him at the moment. I'm the one whose 4-year-old humiliates her in the store (could be Costco, Winco, Target ... take your pick), accusing her of eating up all the Fruit Loops in his loudest possible voice and demanding she buy another box, after which I try to explain that no, we're not buying another box of Fruit Loops because they're junk, even though he and I know perfectly well that I did in fact eat up the entire box. I'm the mom who's grateful her child is a preschooler and not a teenager, because otherwise he'd be humiliated by my just-rolled-out-of-bed appearance when I drop him off -- no makeup, frizzy pony, workout pants that I've had to stuff my postpartum self into ... all things I swore in a former life (read "all-knowing" young single adult) I would NEVER do. I'm the one chasing my child around the library, with a baby strapped to my chest, "whispering" threats to get off the computer, to please STOP taking books off the shelf and shoving them back wherever he chooses, and PLEASE, for heaven's sake, stop climbing on the Harry Potter castle! I beg my child to be quiet at the pharmacy, to please, for once in his life be reverent in Sacrament meeting, plead with him to not say the bad words he learned from me at preschool, and worry myself sick that he's still soaking his nighttime Pull-ups at well over 4 years old. I bribe with dessert, candy, die cast cars, whatever it takes ... again, all the things I added at one point to my "I will never... /My child will never ..." lists.

Yes (SIGH), I am that mom. But, gratefully, I'm not alone. My sister just e-mailed me the following post from a friend of hers, and I was very, VERY comforted to find that there are lots of other mommies out there who find themselves being "THAT" mom. Maybe being "that" mom means we're just real moms, doing, as she says below, "doing the gosh darn best that [we] can."

P.S. I will NEVER add another item to my "I will never .../My child will never ..." lists again!

From another "that" mom:

I never thought I would be

...that crazy mom who runs around town in work out clothes.

or the mom who sends her kids to school with sticky-up hair.

or the mom who holds up check-out lines in wal-mart all for the sake of one measly coupon.

or the mom who lets her kids sleep in her bedroom. every.single.night.

or the mom who snaps at her kids in the store.

or the mom who puts her kid in joyschool.

or the mom who leaves her baby in the car....and just happens to be parked in the spot farthest away from the door....and doesn't even realize she doesn't have her baby until her hubby {inside the movie theater} mouths the words: "where's sam?"

or the mom who {maybe} says swear words.

or the mom who makes cereal for dinner.

no, i never thought i would be that mom.

but i am.

and it feels so good.

i'm not perfect.

i don't accomplish big projects on a daily basis.

or a weekly basis for that matter.

but i'm doing the gosh darn best that i can.

my kids wear hand-me-downs.

they pick their noses

bite their nails

wipe their face on their shirts

and say potty words.

{and it's so funny when they do}

they probably watch too much tv

play too many video games

and get away with more than i ever did

but that is how we do things

every.day.

and it feels so good.

we play.

we laugh.

we tease.

we "get fwustwated"

we tickle.

we giggle.

we throw.

we catch.

we jump.

we run.

I never thought life could be so good.

right now. today.

it feels so good.