That Mom....

Well, yesterday turned out to be the day that I was That Mom. 

Oh, you know her.

She doesn't come to the school assemblies.
Her kids don't have the supplies they need to make a picture frame out of recycled material.
The one who lost her car rider line name tag for one of the kids....after a mere two weeks of school.
The flighty one who laughs too loud and says things without an edit button at inopportune times.

That would be me, folks. 

Every nine weeks, our elementary school has what is known as a Wildcatter Extravaganza. It is only for the 3-6th graders because I guess the little kids aren't worthy of the praise and awards they would really be stoked about unlike those too cool 6th graders who could give a rat's bum. The awards presented are basically Honor Roll awards, Perfect Attendance....you know the drill. 
Well, let me just say that through the first two years of this whole Extravaganza...I assumed it was an in school celebration/brouhaha....like a pep rally for grades. And I also assumed that means that parents did not attend.

Well, that is where I was wrong.

Parents come.

And I wasn't one of them. 

Luckily, my kids understood and didn't really mind.
Of course, this could just be their way of letting me off the hook and then sending me their therapy bills later on down the road.
But what really gets my goat is that I'm wondering what the other parents think. What is wrong with me?! Who cares what they think??

This is my daughter's last year in elementary school.

Last. Year. 

Then she moves on to the God forsaken place known as Junior High.  You know when you read that a shiver went through your body. And if junior high was a piece of cake to you may be the first to pin a rose on your nose. Like literally....pin a rose on your nose.

Junior High is all pimples and mean girls and more classes and different lunches from your friends and riding the bus which is a special kind of hell. 

But back on track......

I was going to attend all of the Wildcatter Extravaganzas this year because after that, there will be no more. 
Of course, there will still be End of the Year awards and such but nothing as fluffy and happy as an EXTRAVAGANZA.

I have not been to one! 

I have missed three of these award assemblies already.

Slacker mom alert. Slacker mom alert.

I always tell myself on Friday, after seeing the super helpful reminder post from the school on their Facebook page, that I will be there Monday. Very important. Do no forget. 

And then Monday rolls around.

Monday with all of it's hot coffee, therapeutic laundry folding, quiet house......

And I forget!!!

My brain is literally mush for some reason.

Do you want to know how I remembered.

Facebook. Stupid Facebook. Because the parents who actually make it a point to remember these things get to post pictures of their children winning these wonderful awards. And then I gasped and about dropped my coffee and then......I cried. Because I felt like an awful mother. And then my best friend sent me pictures of my sweet daughter receiving her awards because she is so stinking smart.....I felt like a failure.

So, I come to terms with the fact that I have messed up big time, again. And I move on with my day.

I sit down at the computer to pull up a recipe for dinner and guess what I find?

The paper from Griff's Science teacher showing examples of all of the fun materials we can send to class for them to make a picture frame using all recycled or reclaimed materials!
Guess what the deadline was for those materials.
Yep. Monday. 
UGH!
Seriously?!
I quickly checked his schedule on the fridge to see when his science class was.
Hours ago. That's when. 

I went into panic mode. Which always involves cleaning for some reason. So I clean my bedroom. I clean out my dresser, ridding it of pajamas and crap that has been sitting in there for way too long. I cleaned off the dust magnet known as the top of the dresser where I collected all of the buttons I could find and squirreled them away in a glass jar....JUST in case his class decided to do the actual project on Tuesday and she was just giving that deadline because parents can be slackers. But never me. :/ 

After cleaning the entire room and dusting everything in sight, I then went on to bake cookies so the kids would have nice, warm, chocolate chip cookies when they got home from school. You know, because if your mom is going to be super crappy....it would be great if she could at least make you cookies. 

I drove on to the car rider line...with my one sad name tag in the window because I lost Griffin's early on....we've gone over this.....I'm over the shame.

When Griffin gets in, I ask him how his day was. Rhys luckily stayed after school for art practice with my best friend who happens to teach there...and she even took her to get a milkshake and fries afterwards...therefore helping me without knowing it. 
I ask Griffin if they did their picture frame project today.....I'm hoping and praying he says No.
Once again, I am wrong. 
They totally did it. 
I tell him I'm so sorry, that it totally slipped my mind this weekend to get his stuff together for the project. He assures me it's okay and acts like it's no big deal. I tell him, trying to save grace, that I found a bunch of buttons because I was hoping that you wouldn't be doing the project until the next day. He tells me again that it's fine. That I can just save it for next year or even for the next kid...which leads to a whole conversation about him wanting a little brother he can pick on....not happening.
When we get home I basically trip over him trying to Vanna White the cookies I made for their after school snack.
Once again, he's unfazed.
I always make cookies.
But he's happy.
As he always is after school.
Although,  I totally asked if other kids forgot their supplies too....and he answered with "Yeah, a LOT of us."...and I silently sighed and felt like not such a horrible mother....because I'm not the ONLY ONE!
Hallelujah.
Not all of us are perfect 100% of the time. And if you are....you are a big, fat, stinking liar. 
Sorry, that was harsh. 
But for real! 

I guess maybe it wasn't such a big deal I forgot the supplies. How many times have I sent extra supplies? So, why does it bother me that Griff needed to use the "extras"?
Or maybe Rhys isn't permanently scarred because I blanked and didn't come to the assembly.
I'm a dang good mama.

I make sure my kids grow up in a happy home.
We laugh.
We eat good food.
We make fun of ourselves and each other.
We adore our dogs like they are little people.
We love music.
We love each other fiercely.

So, just to let you know.....I'm with you.

Sometimes, we really screw up.

And sometimes, we just are normal and forget things. 

Or maybe we buy our children's approval with homemade chocolate chip cookies....you know...whatever your vice is. Own it. 


You are loved, man.

Sometimes, it's nice to hear that you're normal. 

Will your kids remember family game nights, snuggling on the couch watching movies together, impromptu date nights, popcorn and apples for dinner....yes! Of course, they will.

Will they remember the one time you mess up out of the hundreds of amazing things you are purposeful and do with them throughout  their childhood? No.

Breathe, Mama.

This too shall pass. 





And I leave you with this....we are all That Mom eventually. Heck, depending on the town you're in...maybe you're always That Mom. 
The most important thing is that you are the mom God intended you to be for the kids He gave you. You might be a little nutty....like me.
You may be super Type A personality but living in a laid back city...not me.
You just might be the mom who makes it to everything because you actually write things down and remember them.....and if you are that mom I would really appreciate a post it note my way, my friend.

Here's to moms of all kinds.....may our children be happy, our homes in a little bit of disarray and laughter forever in our hearts....you are enough.

It's funny...because it's true.