The Kind of Mom I Am

Our heat wave has broken. Rain yesterday. Today it was almost cool at times. None-the-less, we had a play date planned at the "beach" and the kids opted to wear swimsuits even though there was a steady breeze. I suggested we take long sleeves, just in case, but my oldest, of course, assured me she'd be fine with just a t-shirt.

Conversation at the lake:

DD: Mom, I'm cold.

Me (snug in my jacket): Yeah, it's pretty cool out.

DD (smiling sweetly): Could I wear your jacket?

Me (matter of factly): No. It's my jacket.

DD (shrugging, knowing that I did suggest she bring her own jacket): I know. I just didn't think it would be this cold.

Me: Well, you can run get your jacket. It's in the car.

DD: It is? You brought my jacket?

Me: I did.

DD: Really? How did you know? How do mom's do it? Do you just know these things? How did you know to bring my jacket? You're just awesome.

She happily bounds to the car to retrieve her jacket.

At this point, I'm wondering who in the heck she's talking about. I'm not typically the mom who "knows these things." I'm the mom who forgets to bring towels to the pool. I'm the mom who gathers jackets, then leaves them by the door as I leave. I'm the mom who never has bandaids, buys a brand new bottle of sunscreen but then packs the empty one in my bag, and freezes bottles of water for the picnic and then forgets to put them in the cooler before I head out the door. That's the kind of mom I am.

Me: Well, I suppose that occasionally I get lucky and hit a homerun.

It didn't take long for me to show my true colors, however. When we opened the cooler for snacks, we discovered that I had left the cookies at home on the counter. I sunscreened the kids while they were wearing their jackets. Later, it warmed up, and the six-year-old removed hers. I neglected to go back and spray sunscreen on her newly exposed parts, and as a result she came home with a pretty red sunburn across her back. Oh... and it turns out the jacket I brought for my oldest, was really the property of my middle child. That's why she never actually wore the jacket, even after pronouncing me "awesome."