Striving for Mediocrity

This week was the first week that I was home with the kids by myself. Overall, I'd say it's been a pretty good week. So far the transition to having two kids has been pretty good. Emma's a good sleeper, so that's been extremely helpful. Naomi still loves having Emma around. At least, I think so anyway. I did find this message on the fridge the other day. I think Naomi was just missing an extra "e" to send us subliminal messages about having less attention.

So here's where the mediocrity starts to come in. Every so often, it becomes Kurt's turn to bring treats for his small group at school. This morning it was Kurt's turn. Kurt had asked me to buy something at the store, but I decided I wanted to make something. Unfortunately, I totally forgot about it until 11 pm last night. I hurried to find something I could make with what I had on hand. I found a recipe for muffins that looked pretty good. Well, an hour later I had sunken, burnt muffins. I was pretty crumpled myself. Kurt didn't understand why I was so upset. I felt like a failure. I don't see his classmates very often. I didn't want them to know me as the wife who makes awful muffins. Well, despite my deep desire to make something more presentable, it was already after midnight and I knew it was more important to get sleep than try to impress Kurt's classmates, so I went to bed. But don't fret. This story has a decent ending. Kurt called me after his group got together to tell me that the muffins were a hit! He said people loved them. I'm not really sure how, but apparently they tasted better the second day, despite being burnt on the bottom. Maybe these med school types are desperate for anything homemade...

Then this morning we went to the zoo. Naomi was pretty excited when I told her we were going. She loves animals. We were supposed to meet a group of moms at ten, so we were hurrying to get out the door. Turns out today wasn't the best day to go. Half the animals were hiding in the back of their cages, there were tons of elementary school students there, and when we were at the furthest point from the entrance of the zoo, it started raining. And since it looked like a nice day when we left, I didn't grab a jacket for any of us. And to top it off, another mom there (not anyone I know) made a comment about how I didn't put socks or a hat on Emma. Don't you just love how everyone has to comment? The funny thing is, she wasn't wearing a hat or socks, so I'm not sure why she was so concerned (that's right; don't criticize a new mom or she just might bite you). So here's my confession. My kids were both wearing the same outfit they wore yesterday. Because somedays, that's the only way we can get out the door at all. If the other mom knew that, I slightly wonder what she would have said. But only slightly. Don't worry; I'll make more effort tomorrow. Naomi can't wear the same outfit three days in a row. I do have my limits.

But lest you think our zoo trip was a total bust, two things made the trip totally worth it: we had good company and we got to see the elephants take a bath. And actually, Naomi didn't seem to mind that the animals were hiding. She was flitting around from cage to cage so fast anyway. And as soon as we got home, she informed me she wanted to go back.