A Day With the Girls!!

I had the most marvelous day today. For the first time since Grant was born, I had an entire day to myself without any kids or husband. I left the house at 8:00am and took a beautiful drive from Dallas to Newberg. I met up with some friends in my old neighborhood and then drove on up to Hillsboro to meet another friend and do some shopping at Tanasbourne. It was awesome!! We ate lunch at Chevys and enjoyed some great girl/mommy talk back at a friend's house. It is so nice to be reminded that I am not the only one going through rough times in mommyhood.

So often I am surrounded by other moms who want to project the image that everything is wonderful and perfect. It makes those of us who struggle feel like there is something wrong with us and maybe we should just check ourselves into an insane asylum. Thankfully, my "Newberg friends" are REAL!! Their friendship means so much to me. We have made a renewed commitment to get together more often and I look forward to seeing them again.

Mitch watched the boys today and was thinking about taking them to the sportsman show. I nixed that idea!! I told him that what I really wanted him to do was stay home like I do every day (especially since they have runny noses) and feel the pain. So, Mitch calls me after lunch (they went to Burger King) and says that things are going great. I thought, "You just wait, buster!!" Oh, and Cole took formula from a bottle. "Oh, really?" I asked in a surprised voice. "Why do you sound so surprised?" he asked. "Well, he doesn't really take formula or a bottle," I replied. "And you left me here with him knowing that he might not take a bottle??" I'm so evil.

Mitch called me later in the day and said, "I've had such a great time. I don't know why you think this is so hard." Are you kidding me?? I told him that I did not want to hear that things were going so well!! He thought I would be happy. I said, "Well, that is great! Then you can do this more often." Now that I have had some time to calm down, I realize the wisdom of those words spoken in the heat of the moment. Yes, Mitch can do this more often. When I arrived home at 5:00, the house was clean, the boys were happy and Mitch was beaming. He said that he had such a fun time with the boys that he wants to fly solo with the kids more often. [hear the chorus of angels?]

What a wonderful day!! This is a breakthrough for us. Cole is not as attached as we thought he was, Grant behaved wonderfully and Mitch got a ton of stuff done around the house while enjoying the company of his children. And . . . mom got a much deserved break!!