Mom of the Year

Just when I feel like I am getting life somewhat under control..... This past week has been filled with some quite humbling mommy experiences. Here we go ladies, time to de-cape Super Mom! Award Number 1 Let me begin with a simple trip to the Doctors office. Caroline needed some forms filled out and since we had never done a well check-up with our Dr. in Clayton and since it's soooo close to her 4th birthday, we just went ahead and scheduled her 4 yr. check-up. For a last minute appointment in order to get our paper work filled out as quickly as possible we got the marvelous time of 10:30, right in the middle of Sydney's nap. What are ya gonna do? These appointments generally don't take very long and there are typically toys in the examination room. I leave the diaper bag in the car... All four of us ladies wait together for Caroline to be called back. We wait, and wait...and wait. I had worked really hard at prepping Caroline for the examination since she typically freaks out at the slightest thing. She did excellent getting weighed and measured. Then we get our room. No toys, bummer. That's ok, Makayla and Caroline are great at entertaining themselves. Until the Dr. chair bumper derby starts. We wait, and wait...and wait...and wait... for the Dr. to come in. My arms are getting tired and Sydney is getting cranky, I finally give in and let her play on the floor. GROSS! The Dr. comes in, I give him the forms and we start the examination. I guess he didn't understand me correctly because he did a 3 yr. check-up, really? It's less than a month from her birthday...work with me here! She does great, Sydney eats the paper from the examination table, no crying or shots involved this time! We leave the office at Noon! That's an hour and a half at the dr.! We get out to the car and find it running. How odd! Did I leave the car running the whole time?? I check my purse for the keys and they are there; I must have hit the automatic start fumbling to get everyone in the van, phew! I get everyone buckled, the luggage and stroller stowed and shut the truck. Why did the van turn off, and didn't I just hear all the doors lock? All the doors LOCKED. With my kids, my purse, my cell phone, the keys, everything but me inside the car! GREAT! I try to get Makayla to unbuckle herself and open the door. Good for the car seat company, bad for me, she can't get the bottom unbuckled. As I'm telling the girls to sit tight while I go back inside to make a call a loving mom asks if she can help. I borrow her cell phone and call 911. As I wait Caroline is screaming and Makayla is looking at me like I'm dumb. Sydney is peaceful which is a relief. The cop arrives and provides little assurance. He can only bust a window and the fire department is at a house fire, but someone should be on their way soon. He starts encouraging the kids to unbuckle themselves to no avail. He walks around to Caroline's side and talks to her and then pulls to sliding door handle....and it opens. Boy do I feel dumb! Lucky for me we have one faulty door that does not always lock with the others. I really wish I had tried all the doors before I called the cops! Good thing I pay taxes! I thanked the cop and went home (one block away mind you) and cried to Josh. He brought me flowers home that night. Award Number 2 One of the other weird things that Josh and I do is have our kids sit with us in church. We really enjoy getting a chance to worship as a family and answer questions as they arise about service. It can be really challenging some Sunday's, but well worth the effort. Sydney joins us, in the hopes for her to join us full time, but understanding that the nursery is always an option for her. Since she is doing so well at sitting up, we often let her sit and play with toys in the pew (she is the only one allowed to play during worship). Josh and I typically split kid responsibilities. One with the older, one with the baby. For some reason Josh was really engrossed in the sermon and I was controlling all three at one time. I turn to tell the girls something and out of the corner of my eye see Sydney starting to make a head dive off of the pew! My cat-like reflexes come into play and I have just enough time to catch her by the back of the dress and pull her up to safety. After the many gasps from the pews behind us (we sit in the very first pew, so I can only imagine how many people witnessed this event) I was mortified and decided it was time for Sydney to join her friends in the nursery! Award Number 3 And finally... mommy mess-up number 3. So the reason that Caroline had to get this Dr. form filled out is because she was undergoing sedation to get a tooth pulled. My baby! She's only had the tooth for 2 years and it's already rotted enough to have it pulled! After talking with my Hygienist friend I was lovingly shown that people aren't born with rotten teeth, it's improper care that causes the cavities. I rotted my baby's teeth! Oh, the guilt! And to have to be sedated on top of all that! Caroline started off well, but since she decided to spit out half of her sedation medication, she came to when they were putting the gauze in to absorb the blood. She was NOT a happy camper about that and threw a royal fit. Luckily Josh was there and he was able to maintain control while I showed Makayla around the dentist office (she had never been to this office before). Since they removed a baby tooth and since it will be such a long time before the permanent tooth grows in they have to insert a spacer to keep the room for the new tooth. Which will be placed at the end of April when she get the other FIVE cavities filled. So my sweet Caroline has a huge gap in her mouth where a molar used to be. I can't believe the Tooth Fairy had to come and visit a 3 yr.old. She was very nice and gave Caroline two packs of stickers. One pack she stuck all over her body within the first 5 minutes of waking up. Hey, after seeing that big ole' tooth, she deserved to do whatever she wanted with those stickers! Thanks for the dose of humility, Lord.