Motherhood: A Poem, a Story and a Picture

A Poem

My friend, Gina, posted this poem on her blog yesterday. Since If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is one of our favorite read-aloud books (remember this?), this poem had me cracking up.

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

Original Author Unknown

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are...
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

A Story

Thursday evening, Josh and I were going to enjoy a night out with some friends from school. The plan was for me to taxi with the kids to school around 4:15 to meet up with the rest of the group and from there, head down to Clark Quay for dinner. Of course, the afternoon did not go exactly as planned. Caleb and Annabelle went down late for their naps. By the time they finally fell asleep, the house was a mess. So instead of showering and dressing, I quickly tidied up the house, folded the laundry that had been sitting on the couch for hours, and did the lunch dishes.

Before I knew it, it was 3:45 and I was still in my pj's. I took a quick cold shower (who has time for the water to heat up?) and managed throw on some clothes and make-up before the kids woke up at 4:00. I changed their diapers, told Caleb to grab his sandals off the shoe rack that is near our front door (in Asia, you don't wear your shoes in the house, so all the shoes pile up near the front door), helped Caleb put on his shoes while I fed Annabelle, called a taxi, put Annabelle in her baby sling, grabbed my purse, slid on my shoes and ran out the door to meet the taxi. Whew! 4:15 on the dot. I was pretty impressed with myself. The house was clean, the kids were clean, I was clean, and we were on time. Was I good or what!?

When we arrived at school, the parking lot was abuzz with after-school activity. I waved to several people and chatted a bit with a few friends. One of our good friends, Les, walked over to say hi to the kids and as he approached, I could tell he was looking at me strangely.

"What did you do to your foot?!?" he asked.
"Nothing." I said, confusedly, and glanced down. Annabelle in her baby sling was blocking my view so I lifted my left foot to inspect it. Nothing wrong there. I lifted my right foot and started cracking up!!! In my hurry to get out of the house, I had slid on two different shoes.

Ahh, Motherhood! Oh well, at least my kids' shoes matched =)


A Picture

Note to self: the brown shoes look way better than the black. Ditch the black pair.