Moments in Motherhood

Quick thoughts today on shared motherhood:

- I was in Target this morning with Maggie. As usual at 11am on a weekday the crowd at the checkout appeared to be mostly moms and most had kid(s) with them. As I put my stuff in the cart, I noticed a young boy climb into the machine that holds the ice bags. My heart nearly stopped. My hands were full, but luckily I caught his mom's attention and she rescued him quickly. She was horribly embarrassed, but all the other moms were so understanding and sweet. You could read in all our faces and sentiments the understandings that it could easily be our kid tomorrow. (Yes, I'm now terrified B will do this soon). I love the shared bond of being moms.

- Mommy Mocktail - When I used to work in an office around 3pm each day it was time for a soda so I could muster the strength, focus or attention for those last few hours. Now, it is my 1pm Mommy Mocktail. I've been working on the perfect concoction for awhile, but just now it is Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, crushed ice and a capful of lime juice. Not complicated, but definitely my mommy treat when the kids finally doze off. (Check the posting time, I'm probably having one now...)

- Taking care of Me - I'm still (sadly) in my "transition clothes" and have been putting off buying a coat. For those of you familiar with me putting off things this was likely going to result in not buying one all winter out of some sense that I'd get smaller quickly and it wouldn't fit or that we don't have the money for random things that I'll only (hopefully) be able to wear this year. In suprisingly good news, today I bought a winter coat!! Believe it or not, it isn't even black! I've pretty much worn black coats exclusively for oh, let's say a decade or more. This one is, ahem, camel.... so still pretty neutral, but it does have a satiny fuschia lining if that counts?? Want to know what pushed me over the edge? Outerwear is 50% off at Old Navy. I also had a 15% off printable coupon from their website. You can get one too by clicking around through their ad online to "find" it. Thus my new happy coat probably cost around $35:) I do love a deal and being warm, for that matter. You might want to go check this sale out. There are many styles and colors to choose from at my local store. Shockingly, my second favorite was bright PINK!

- Making it work - Motherhood is often about making it work, at least for me. Yesterday, that meant strapping M into the Bjorn so that I make the lovely sweet potato biscuits from Orangette (via Bon Appetit) for dinner. It wasn't pretty and definitely impacted my focus a bit, but I think counts as M and I's first official mother/daughter baking fun. I even wrapped an apron around both of us:) Hopefully there are many more such adventures to come. (P.S. The biscuits were awesome. Particularly, the second batch after I had more closely read the instructions and put my food processor into service to incorporate the butter. Such a time saver!)

Here's to motherhood and making things work whatever the situation. Today, we will welcome a new mom to our club, but more on that later! Happy parenting!