Mom of the Year

Mom of the Year - she is not what you think. Let me take a moment to explain. This morning I was working from home while a person (who said he would be there at 8 am, but really arrived at 9 am) was doing some installation work for us, when I get a phone call from my husband asking me why I wasn't at 4K orientation for our son. I look at the calendar on the fridge for the school and I see orientation for this weekend, which I had on my calendar, but nothing for this morning. I call the school and they oh-so-politely inform me that, yes, today is registration and I should have received some information with a schedule according to last name to come today to pay book fees, pick up the school supplies (did order those), etc. I frantically look through all the letters and paperwork, but I have NOTHING with that information. Hysterically call my husband to see if he can go to the school, because remember, I am at the house with the installation guy, waiting for him to finish his work all while working from home. Note: Everything with the school registration has worked out and my son is set for the school year. Despite that, here's what was going through my mind: failure, being disregarded as a good mom because I missed one thing that I didn't even have information on and all of those other awful feelings of letting your child down. This is the next thing that came to my mind: Mom of the Year - who is she? Is she the mom who never forgets a lunch, always looks flawlessly put together or never seems ruffled? Or, is she me - the mom who makes mistakes, but loves her children so very much that she would die before she let anything happen to them? Mom of the Year (MOTY) is a tongue-in-cheek refernce to mom's who are trying their damnedest but who occasionally let their kids eat a sandwich three nights in a row, or who forget a 4K registration or who even (GASP) forget to brush their kids teeth one night because they are so exhausted from trying to hold everything else together that something is bound to slip through the cracks. My girlfriends and I often present MOTY awards to each other for various things like using the 30-second rule - you can eat that chip you dropped on the ground at the birthday party that sat there for a full 30 seconds and became infested with harmful germs. No big deal. Or, you don't change your baby's wet diaper the second he fills it up because you are trying to cook, change out laundry and yell at your oldest child for kicking the dog. So fellow MOTY's, here's to us and all the mistakes we will make. Like leaving four bottles of pumped breast milk out on the counter overnight and having to pour it down the drain as you cry hysterically because it is like burning cash that you were going to spend at the Nordstrom half-year sale. For those of you who are perfect mom's - you have my admiration and your kids are lucky to have you. Stay tuned for more Mom of the Year stories. There are thousands to share!