Mom

Before Megan and Laney were born, I was a boy mom. I would yell out "Dumptruck!" "Choo Choo!" "Big Digger!" and there were cheers from the backseat. We were consumed with making the coolest, hilliest, most complicated train track possible. We added to the track collection at every gift giving opportunity.

Now my boys are in school and during the majority of my waking ours I'm a girl mom. Some things are the same: both seem to think the only choices for lunch should be corn dogs or ramen noodles (toss in a quesadilla once in a while just to mix it up), but everything else is different. We have less trucks, less dirt, less bugs, and less pee on the seat.

We have more tea parties (and more playdates. Girls love to hang with other girls. It's nature.)

More baking and more aprons.

More dancing (or twirling with blankets). Same dif.


More emotional breakdowns


More manicures



More changes of clothing and thus, more laundry. Don't you "dress" for dinner?

More advice on which shoes/shirt/earrings I should wear (and NOT wear).

More singing in the car. Meg loves Leona Lewis, Taylor Swift and Ingrid Michaelson. She has a good ear. She's the one who is always saying, "Turn it up, Mom!" I oblige. She sings "And IIIIII looooove the way you say good morning, and yooooouu take me the way I am." under her breath. Makes me smile every time. Laney kicks her legs to the beat like nobody's business.

A sharp increase in Barbie inspired musical performances. Darn you, Diamond Castle, darn you!

More floral decoration of park benches.


The greatest thing is that my boys haven't disappeared. I'm a girl mom and a boy mom. Although realistically, I'm just Ethan's mom, Mathew's mom, Megan's mom and Laney's mom. Each one of my kids has a knack for bringing out the nicest, kindest, most nurturing parts of me. And then two seconds later, they serve up the worst, nastiest, most sarcastic and impatient parts of me. Sometimes I take a breath and overcome. Sometimes I let er rip and say the thing I shouldn't say in a tone I shouldn't have taken. And that's the part I get to feel bad about (thank you, Spirit) and I am GUARANTEED another opportunity to do better. Usually within 24 hours.

I love being their mom.