Super Mama

It doesn't happen often. In fact it is so rare, I am going to gloat about it.  Yesterday I was Super Mama. Hard to believe the woman who shrieks at her children to put on your shoes had a stand out day, but I did. In fact, it started with shoes. 

Cooper gets one pair of shoes for the school year, then one pair for summer.  The process is an excruciating one that involves trying on ten million shoes and multiple stores.  He is so particular about how the shoe feels, where the tongue is, how it tightens, etc.  So this past September after ordering the right size while at Nordstrom and returning/exchanging at a different Nordstrom two weeks later, we got him the perfect pair of ridiculously overpriced Geox gym shoes. 

Needless to say, just 2 months later he refused to wear the aforementioned shoes because the insole felt funny and the Velcro cracked and rolled up. So they have been sitting on the shoe shelf in the basement and he has been wearing his rubber boots or his soccer shoes.  Ok, long back story, but enter Super Mama.  I searched our September Visa statement, found the transaction, printed it out and loaded Carmen & Charlie in the minivan for our Pioneer Square excursion to weasel my way into a new pair of shoes for Coop.  I'm not really a returner, so this was a big deal for me. In my eager start to the day I kinda forgot that Nordstrom doesn't open at 8am when I was ready to conquer the world.  So we ran a few quick errands and then found a parking place right in front of the Starbucks on Pioneer Square.  Great, hot chocolate break.  Um, kinda forgot that the Pioneer Square population is a bit colorful.  Or stinky and scary as the case may be.  We gulped our hot chocolates whilst avoiding the talker-to-selvers and high tailed it across to Nordstrom.  Ahh, Jimmy Choos for $900 a pair.  I am not usually a Nordstrom shopper, but sometimes it just feels nice to be surrounded by a little luxury.  We escalated up to Children's shoes and before you could say broken Velcro, I had a brand new pair of size 3 Geox shoes in my possession.  Accomplishment #1.  Check.

Next on the list was a desk for Cooper's room.  Being in 1st grade has brought with it the privilege of homework.  I gotta say, I am not such a fan of homework.  I mean he is not really responsible enough yet.  If he doesn't turn it in, its essentially my fault.  But we are working on it, and I figured a desk in his room with his own little pencil cup and desk lamp might be the way to go.  But despite just having scored a $70 pair of shoes for free moments before, I am a cheapskate at heart.  So I pass granola bars around the back seat and off we go to Ikea to find the cheapest, yet coolest, desk ever.  The Ikea kid club was full at 10:45am on a Tuesday morning.  What kind of people make their kids go to the Ikea kid club while they can mindlessly spend money on Swedish particle board?  Oh yeah, people like me.  So Carmen & Charlie twirled around office chairs and opened and closed desk drawers while I stood back, fingers stroking my chin, and searched for the perfect desk.  I ended up choosing a table top with attachable legs.  Then saw a "do it yourself" shelf where you buy a dresser drawer front and mini chrome legs.  The Ikea guy said I'd have to drill my own holes, but don't worry, its super easy. Those of you who know me know that "do it yourself" and "Elizabeth Lahti" should not be used in the same sentence.  But, I could get the whole desk/shelf set up for $29.  Yes, you read that correctly, $29--less than half a pair of Geox shoes.  Accomplishment #2.  Check.

In order to entertain the little ones who were not Ikea kid club worthy, I let them look at all the toys and in Carmen's case the fun fabrics.  On display were some cute tote bags made from the brightly colored fabrics they sell down there by bedding.  By chance, the tote bag pattern was available for the taking.  I grabbed one and let Carmen pick out whatever fabric she wanted.  Much to my delight she chose one that I already had yards and yards of in the attic (a curtain project never come to fruition--see I'm not really super mama if you look at the hundreds of projects I have never finished, let alone started). As soon as we got home Charlie was forced into his afternoon nap, AKA time for Mom and Carmen to do girlie things without being hit in the head with a truck or suffer through a tantrum.  I dug the fabric out from the spider webbed attic and we threaded the bobbin on the machine. Viola! a tote bag was born.  Carmen was beyond excited and made me promise to make a hundred more with all different fabrics for all her stuffed animals. 

 

 Cute tote bag for stuffed animals. Accomplishment #3. Check.

***

While I'm gloating I am going to throw in here a pic of a cute baby blanket I made for a yet to be born baby girl.  I can't NOT make a quilt for a baby girl and when I found out my friend Carrie was expecting a girl four years after her two boys I went to the fabric store within 24 hours.  I had a hard time getting a decent picture of it before I gave it to her at her baby shower last weekend, but here it is at varying stages.  I almost like the back better than the front because of the cute owls. 

This was a totally random aside, so no accomplishment kudos here.  Let's get back to Super Mama, shall we?

***

Cooper came bounding through the front door after school, like he always does.  Don't they expend any energy at school?  I swear that kid never stops.  So I show him the new shoes. "You're the best Mom ever", he exclaims with his toothy grin. I soak it up; bask in his all too infrequent admiration.  Then, I tell him about the desk.  Jumping up and down, he runs out to the car to see the new desk.  Its in a multitude of pieces.  Not wanting this moment of total hoodwinking him into thinking I am the best Mom ever to end, I tell him to grab me a screw driver and meet me in his room.  The screwdriver is not enough.  I dig through Jeff's work bench and find what I am looking for--a power drill.  I was slightly unsettled to find that it was turning the wrong way.  My handful of little silver screws kept clinking as they fell back onto the brackets.  Not to be deterred I found the reverse switch. I know, say it isn't so. I actually found the switch that said "L" or "R" and figured it out all on my own.  While Charlie covered his ears and yelled "It's too loud Mommy" I drilled the hell out of that desk and shelf. Cooper captured the moment on a fuzzy phone camera pic.

Now don't go looking too closely and tell me that looks like the easiest desk to put together ever.  I am Super Mama damnit, let me gloat.  Desk put together with power tools.  Accomplishment #4.  Check.

Like any good mother in a superstore, I bribed my children with the promise of a stuffed Ikea rat if they behaved.  They delivered on the good behavior so they got new rats to play with.  We got one for Cooper too.  The rest of the afternoon all three kids played in the basement together with nary an argument to be had.  My favorite was when the giant stuffed snakes would chase the rats and eat them.  (Thank you Planet Earth for teaching the life cycle.)  Every now and then Cooper would come up and look at me with total disbelief and say again, "Mom, your the best Mom ever."  He'd give me a hug and run back downstairs.  I would do my very best not to look too eager for praise and appreciation. 

But like I said, Super Mama days come about once a year.  The rest of the time I am hanging on by a thread, forgetting about gymnastics, burning the potatoes, arriving late or shrieking at my kids to put your shoes on, NOW.  So I'll take a Super Mama day.  I'll even gloat a little. 

Comments

[Alison]

The great days really do make all the crapy ones a bit more managable! I love you Super Mama-Sister :-)