I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

Someday you might be the mom racing into school right on time. Maybe your kids will drag their feet,  maybe it will be you. Maybe a combination. Maybe nobody will listen the first few times you say it’s time to pack their lunches, get their shoes, put away the iPad they aren’t even supposed to have out in the morning… Maybe nobody will listen the fifth time you say it either. Maybe nobody will ever listen to you again.

Someday you might be the mom who uses your lunch break to walk the dog, make some popcorn for lunch, and stuff your kids’ karate things into bags before heading back to school. Maybe popcorn for lunch will seem normal to you.

Someday you might be the mom racing out of school, 8 year old racing along with you. Maybe you’ll have to pick up your 9th grader and somehow get to your 11 year old’s volleyball tournament at the high school. Maybe it will be next to impossible for you to park. Maybe you’ll be stuck behind buses, have to turn around on a side street, and then be stuck behind more buses. Maybe you’ll park just as a high school student gets to his car. Maybe he’ll open his doors, blocking your daughter in her seat. Maybe you’ll have to smile and ask him to move.

Someday you might be the mom getting your kids to karate half an hour late. Maybe the volleyball tournament went a little longer than you had planned for. Maybe your kids were starving after that so you had to stop for a quick snack. Maybe little containers of apples and pretzels will be the healthiest thing you can get them. Maybe your kids will bicker in the car, and beg to not have to even go to Karate because they are tired, sick, late anyway. Maybe you’ll drink too much seltzer water, maybe you’ll find a parking space, maybe you won’t.

Someday you might be the mom stopping by your own parents’ house after the first karate class. Maybe you’ll have your youngest with you. Maybe you’ll let him use your phone to play a game. Maybe when you mom says, “What can I get you?” You’ll say “What are you offering?” Maybe you’ll eat her homemade vegan chili without feeling guilty. Maybe you’ll have a secret wish that your parents had a homemade soup delivery service.

Someday you might be the mom who fails the early bedtime almost every night. Maybe you’ll be the mom who snuggles each kid, plus the dog, and then the kittens. Maybe you’ll stick to your no snacks after the kids go to bed, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll catch up on your work when the house is quiet, maybe you’ll finish your dystopian book. Maybe you’ll go to bed on time, or maybe you’ll play with the kittens first.

Who knows!

I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

Daily, in March 
I write
make coffee
do dishes
do some laundry
ask the kids to please help 
     Please, clean their rooms
I go to bed too late
I shun sugar
I sneak some sugar
I make more coffee
I try to drink a lot of water

E checks the countdown to Easter and then countdown to summer
L asks to go look at the cats and dogs at the shelter soon 
H sits and slices
The kids ask for us to "please pay just $2.00 for a new game"
We ask the kids to "please take the dog for a walk"

We work
our to do list grows
our kids grow

Thankfully we also laugh
Daily, in March

I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

When your 14 year old invites a friend for spa day,
they will ask to make cupcakes too.

When they pick a cupcake recipe,
you will need to go to the grocery store.

When you go to the grocery store,
your 11 year old will want to bake too.

When he chooses to make oatmeal raisin cookies
you will ask him to make them vegan.

When the vegan cookies come out of the oven,
you will eat too many.

When you eat too many cookies,
you will be happy that the cupcakes aren’t vegan.

When you look at your bakery kitchen,
you will want to cry.

When you want to cry,
that doesn’t mean anyone will clean it up for you.

I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing! 

She’s 14 now. I love the 14 year old L, and I will love her forever.  But, I still wish I could go back in time.

I remember sitting in our hand-me-down armchair, with my tiny newborn baby girl. It was dark everywhere else but the little lamp by the chair.

I remember the weight of her. You know when your are little and you love to play with dolls? And you love when the doll feels like a real baby? The actual weight of a real baby ends up even more perfect than you could have imagined.

I remember her head rested just below my shoulder.

I remember I was so tired, but I also knew that cozy time was fleeting.

I remember the feeling when I decided to try to put her back in her co-sleeper. Sometimes she would wake up and I’d end up nursing her back to sleep. Sometimes she’d let out that little newborn squeak and settle in.

I remember falling asleep on that chair, reading a book one-handed on that chair, listening to my husband snore.

I remember I tried to capture the feeling.

I remember her soft soft head, her little hands.

I remember.

But, I still wish I could go back in time.