Mother of the Year Award

So, here's the deal. I know you are all working toward the Mother of the Year Award, but you should throw in the towel. Just give up. Admit defeat. I've won, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Or not.

I do a Bible study on Wednesdays, and this year Brynna is attending the kids' class while I do the adult study. The study is in the morning and then we'll grab lunch and head to BG's tennis lesson at 1:30. (Save your comments about a 3 year old playing tennis. Her big sister plays, her dad has been trying to teach her since she could walk...it was as inevitable as gymnastics. And if I don't find some way to extract some of the boundless energy flooding from this child, we are both going to need serious help. I say the more activity the better. Wear her out. Someone. Please.) So yesterday was our first day and the Bible study is at a new location. I wasn't sure about the timing, so I insisted BG dress for tennis in case there wasn't time to change. We loaded up with Bibles, racket, water bottle and princess and hit the road. (What? You don't take a princess with you every time you leave the house? Amateur.) As it turned out, we did have time to come home for lunch, but afterward we loaded up again tennis-bound. We buckled in, talking about how much fun it'd be and how she'd been practicing with Daddy. As she worked on the last part of her car seat buckle (because Heaven forbid I help and it take less than 20 minutes), I started to plug the address into my car's navigation. You can imagine the drop of my stomach as  I looked at my calendar only to discover that TENNIS STARTS NEXT WEEK! The meltdown was so immediate I wondered if she had known all along and was waiting for me to say it. There was crying, wailing, gnashing of teeth. There was a sad little face because all she wanted in the entire world, ever was to go to tennis right then. And of course, her mom broke the #1 Cardinal Do Not Break Mom Rule. I promised something I couldn't deliver.

It took a moment, but I salvaged the day by taking her to play at the mall. (Her choice, I promise. I was fully prepared to take my punishment like a big girl and spend the afternoon pushing a swing for hours on end, but she chose and who was I to argue? It's Nordstrom triple points week!) As we drove to the mall, though, I started to work on my Mother of the Year Award acceptance speech...

After my horrific fail, today was a day much more intentional. And by that, I mean I checked my calendar every 30 minutes to make sure I wasn't forgetting something or mixing up my days. When David got home, we all started getting excited for our family outing tomorrow. For a month, we've been tossing around the idea of going to Six Flags while the weather is nice. We are meeting friends in Baltimore for dinner tomorrow, so it made perfect sense to combine the two into a Family Friday. As we put Brynna to bed, it was the perfect bribe - sleep in your own bed because when you wake up we are going to ride rides! (Oh, don't look offended. You know you bribe, too.) When David walked in from telling BG goodnight, he found me in our bedroom staring blankly at my computer. What did the screen say? SIX FLAGS IS CLOSED TOMORROW. AND SATURDAY! Yep, that's right. I did it again.

So I've spent the last hour and a half figuring out what we are going to do since David took a day off work, we have a non-refundable hotel room booked in Baltimore and NOWHERE TO GO!

I say again, give up now. Mother of the Year goes to me. Hands down. No more entries needed. I've won.

Or not.