The Mum Project

**A post that I forgot about in my drafts folder from the fall, but it still applies today**

Over the last few months I have been thinking about an experience I had during the summer.  I stopped into "Tony's Deli" for some last minute dinner ingredients and he slipped a note in my bag that said, "You are a good mom."   It was a sweet gesture and I keep thinking back to that experience and how good it made me feel.  I want my friends and family to know that I am one of their biggest cheerleaders.

One day while perusing the nursery for "deer resistant" plants, I came upon these gorgeous fall mums.  Inspiration struck and I knew this would be a great thing to give to some of the great moms I know. 

 

We put stickers on each plant that said, "Just wanted to let you know that we think you are a great "mum" to your family."  My kids and I came up with the list of moms we wanted to surprise with the mums.  The best part of this project was doing this with my kids, they love nothing more than ding dong ditching and we have perfected our technique over the past year.  At one house, Mr. Boy was startled by a noise and pretty much threw the mum at the front door, it went splat as he jumped into the car.   

This was so easy and so simple, even better it was a great service project for my family.   Motherhood is such a hard job and there isn't a lot of people handing you a ribbon for navigating the latest tantrum.   Who knows maybe you'll get a mum thrown at your door, telling you that you are doing a good job. 

My new BFF

I'm super excited about my new BFF, we talk everyday and she always wants to see me "right away!"  I'm of course referring to the school nurse who has been in touch with me daily for the last week. At first it was asthma for Mr. Boy, then AK had the stomach flu, Mr. Boy had a headache, AK fell and hit her head, and it goes on an on.  The school nurse is lovely, but the guilty mom voice in my head feels like she is calling to tell me, "Mademoiselle, you are not winning the Mother of the Year contest. Didn't you hear that whisper of a wheeze in his chest this morning?" 

This bout of  illness is riding on the coattails of one of those ill fated weeks when everything that can go wrong will.   On the way home from the dentist (two cavities!), a rock shattered my car windshield.   I got a flat tire on the way home from a doctor's appointment.  The water heater quit working, the washing machine started to leak and I sneezed so hard I split my head open on the corner of a chair. 

I've had terrible judgement over the last week in deciding who is sick and who is well. In the mornings, I have about 45 minutes to assess if they are well.  Most of the time, they are groggy and grumpy, so who knows how they are feeling. After AK had been able to keep food down for 48 hours I thought she was more than safe to go to school.  I was wrong as she had an unfortunate incident that "surprised her pants" during afternoon recess.  Poor girl, that is a very BAD day.  

Then yesterday, Mr. Boy was complaining of a stomachache, but I was pretty sure he was faking it. He has faked a lot of stomachaches and asthma attacks over the last few years.   I sent him to school and told him he would be fine. On my way home from taking AK to the doc for a spider bite on her eyelid, I got a phone call that Mr. Boy threw up just outside of the classroom. When I got there, they had set up cones around Mr. Boy and the mess.  Since school had let out, the yard supervisors were directing traffic around him.   Mr. Boy was mortified and was furious that I hadn't believed him and I don't blame him one bit.  He is going to hold that over my head for a long time.   After I got everyone situated in their own "sick bed" on the couch, I sat down and noticed my button down shirt was on inside out and had been the entire day.   Some days, you just can't win, and you can't do anything but laugh.  Mr. Boy isn't going to be nominating me for Mother of the Year this year, and I won't be in any magazine talking about my incredibly edgy style wearing shirts inside out. 

The only good thing that has come out of this week is this.   I'm still not entirely sure what this  picture is, but it's in a cartoon the kids were watching and it makes me laugh every time I see it.  I'm not sure why the tiger always has a rainbow coming out of his bum. I'm totally sticking this picture on my phone as the picture that comes up every time my new BFF, the school nurse, calls me.  At least I'll be smiling when she tells me that I once again I am not going to win the title of Mother of the Year.  

Modern Day Survival

Somewhere just after Christmas we got hit with "The New Cold."  Apparently, this "new cold" doesn't ever end and we spent 10 days feeling somewhere between mediocre and terrible.  On Day 11, I hauled my family to the doctors office to see if there was something "New" to treat "The New Cold."  The doc prescribed a small arsenal of meds and gave us a healthy dose of "I promise you won't feel like this forever."

We headed over to worship at the altar of Target to get our prescriptions filled.  While we waited, we stocked up on supplies, replenishing the cough medicine and the pantry.  We may have even bought some socks and underwear because the laundry wasn't exactly doing itself.  We sauntered over to the food court and ate junky food and called it dinner. While my kids drank their Slushies, I reveled in the wonder that is Target.  Within an hour, I had gotten everything I needed and I thought back to what moms did prior to Target.  They went to the pharmacy and paced the aisles like cavemen with whiny sick children in tow while they waited for medicine.

I thought back to my own mom and remembered one Christmas Vacation where everyone had come down with the flu.  The refrigerator was empty and the task of heading to the grocery store seemed daunting.   My mom in a stroke of genius called the milkman and told him along with our regular milk delivery to bring one of everything he stocked.  The next morning, we opened the front door to find a bounty of groceries along with our milk.   

While I sat there and gave thanks for the one stop shopping mega store, I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't some flu-ridden mother's idea to make a store where you could get everything.  I love shopping small and local, but when my team is down for the count,  I'm a Big Box believer.