Be A Good Mom

Once upon a time, before she was Mrs. My Mark, Aunt Shel was a wild and crazy single gal. Well, not so wild, but sort of crazy. Anyhoo…she once had a chance at the greatest opportunity ever presented to a young single girl….she was asked out on a date by Ronald McDonald. Yes, THE Ronald McDonald…in full make up. And she turned him down. I could not believe it. Especially since I had 2 preschool children at the time. I told her…”the least you could have done was gone out on one date! Maybe it would have worked out! Think of how excited Geetle and Pookie would have been!” But, she said no.

Well, selfish Aunt Shel, this is what Thanksgiving would have looked like…… if you had just given him a chance.

Scene:  home office.  BeAGoodDad’s  (BAGD’s) current workspot, 40 hours a week, shared with BeAGoodMom (BAGM) when she works at home, about 10 hours a week.    BAGD has just finished for the day and is heading upstairs to to send Babysitter Mamaw home.  Prior to finishing his day, he had been enjoying a few cookies at his desk.

BAGD - “I’m going up.  Come up when you want.”

BAGM- “OK.  Hey!  Take those cookies with you.”

BAGD- “Are you kidding?  The kids are up there.”

End Scene.

What more could I say?

Silly Aunt Marie.

But, thanks. They thought that was pretty cool.

Pookie and Geetle also had a Family Birthday party this weekend. Before we could have anyone over, BAGD had to shovel the driveway. Too bad for him, the next day it was 50 degrees and all the rest of the snow melted.

Once the party got started, it was lots of fun. Lots of food.

Lots of people.

Lots of great presents.

Every year when birthdays come and go, I can’t help but stop and think about how much my kids have grown. One very poignant thought jumped into my head at the party. Last year, Great Grandma BlueGrass gave Pookie a package of CARS underwear. He opened them and threw them aside, because at that point, he had absolutely no interest and no understanding of the potty. At the time, it made me very sad. I was happy that my boy was turning 4, but angry and frustrated that he was not potty trained. I wondered when it would ever happen. Then at this party, almost a exactly a year later, I found my boy in the bathroom pooping on his own during the party. Thats how far he had come in a year. I was so proud of him. And then there’s Geetle, who told me several times this week, “I don’t care what people get me.” Her way of saying, in abbreviated 5 year old language, that she just wanted a party, not presents. Good kids. I am lucky.

A picture of Giggles and her Great-Great Aunt Marie…I think. I am not too good with the “greats” and the “once removed”s. Aunt Marie was once married to my Grandpa’s brother….I don’t know what she is technically…except a really nice old lady. (BTW- she does not care if we call her an old lady, she knows she is an old lady, that’s one of the reasons we like her so much.)

3kid

Giggles is fitting in pretty well around here.  She is a very agreeable baby.  She is happy to be any where, any time.  Sometimes I feel bad that she gets lugged around when I take Pookie and Geetle for haircuts or to the store to buy a Carbon Monoxide detector.  Boring stuff.  But, then I remember that she has never been to these places and its all like a big vacation to her.  Sight-seeing from a climate controlled motor coach…errrr, I mean car seat.   She gets to lay on a playmat in front of the big window while I wait for the preschool buses to come back, then I dart outside to get Pookie or Geetle and we rush back in to say “Hello” to her, its like elaborate Peek-a-boo.   She gets to ride in the sling for hours, swaying back and forth as she naps contentedly, as I load the dishwasher, fill out school papers, make sandwiches, and fold laundry.   She gets to come downstairs and sit with us in front of the TV for her 9 pm bottle, even though we would have made Baby Pookie and Baby Geetle eat in the dark, quiet nursery because its “nighttime” not “playtime”, all because we are worn out and is it too much to ask that we get to watch King of Queens a few nights a week?

I hope she likes it here so far.  We think we are doing all right by her, but we will have to wait and see if she complains.  Right now, she seems pretty happy.

As I still slowly recover from Giggles’ birth, I would like to take the time to say Thank you to my Mother for agreeing to give birth to me. By the time I was born, she had already had one C-section and knew she was going to have another one with me. I have had one C-section and if BAGD and I were not “done” I would seriously consider declaring the baby-making factory closed, just to avoid going through it again. But, my mom did do it again. And that was in the 1970’s, back before the bikini cut, back when they ran the incisions vertically from belly button to pubic bone. In her case, right on top of the incision where baby #1 came out. And she knew that when I was born she was going to have to take care of me, herself and my sister (a great girl, but only 21months old at the time).

Now that I have done it myself, I have an appreciation for what she went through. I want to thank her and say sorry I did not come out the other way.