"Mom of the Year"

My third blog award!

My head is going to start getting big with all these awards! And I pride myself on my humility - okay, well, if that's the case I guess I'm not as humble as I thought!

Regardless, thank you so much Mommy of M's. Remember her? She won March's giveaway. I very much enjoy reading her charming blog about her two little M's.

Rules for Mom of the Year Award:

Admit one thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. Get it off your shoulders. Once you've written it down, you are no longer allowed to feel bad. It's over with, it's in the past. Remember, you're a good mom!

Then remind yourself you are a good mom by listing seven things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. These are the things to remind yourself everyday that you rock!

What I feel awful about:

Gosh, I feel bad about something involving being a mom on a daily basis. I guess this is a pretty normal part of motherhood, right? So I'll try to pick a recent one that really sticks out.

This past Friday T-Rex and I drove my mom home. He did a potty break right before we left so I was certain he would be good to go. Mom's house is about 45 minutes from ours - thus I figured T-Rex would be fine the 90 minutes we'd be gone. We left the house at 4:00 PM in order to avoid rush hour and indeed we did.

On the way home, however, there was a crash in the construction zone area. Not only did it delay our trip but we were stuck behind a long line of cars in a construction area with no way of pulling over. T-Rex told me he had to GP ("go potty") but there was nothing I could do.

Poor guy, he peed his pants - which makes a very grumpy T-Rex - but also it soaked through his pants and into his car seat. He was so distraught he started to cry and cry. His cries continued for another 45 minutes while we waited in traffic.

Admittedly, I, too, became distraught and angry (and cried). I wish I had more patience. Distraught that there was nothing I could do to help my little guy and distraught that I (a trained RN) could not help the injured victims of the car accident. But also angry at myself for not putting a diaper on him just in case we were delayed. Angry that I had this hair-brained idea to try early potty training. And angry at the folks who caused the mess. (Aren't emotions weird? I felt both concern and anger toward the car accident victims.)

For a while I talked soothingly to T-Rex and kept telling him everything was okay and this would pull him out of his hysteria temporarily but there was only so much soothing over screams I could take in a car crawling along in traffic. At one point I opened the window on the side he was sitting on so that some of the noise might get directed out the window.

It was just a horrible feeling of helplessness. Maybe I'm more of a control freak than I thought. I just always want to be there for my little guy and be his glowing beacon of positive energy and support. Maybe I need to re-evaluate my self-expectations.

Okay, now that is off my chest, here are my seven things:

1. I love being a mom - period.

2. I love being T-Rex's mom.

3. Every time I think T-Rex has past his cutest stage he surprises me and gets cuter. (I think this is nature's way of facilitating bonding and attachment to our offspring!)

4. I love watching T-Rex Dad spend time with our little guy.

5. I love going in at night to check on my sleeping T-Rex. (I always put my hand to his to feel the warmth - when he was tiny it was to make sure he didn't die of SIDS - I was a little paranoid.)

6. I love making clothes for my son. And he loves wearing them!

7. I really love that my child likes to clean and organize - man, I love that kid!

The list could go on and on. Seriously, I knew being a mom would be great, but I was not prepared for how great it really is!

I would like to pass this along to Melanie over at Atwood Attitudes. I've always considered her to be a super mom so she is very deserving! Not only that, but the gal rocks - she has a "New Moon" counter on her blog. That's just awesome!

Don't forget the April giveaway is going on now through the 23rd...
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