50 Things to Do This Summer

I need Mom Lessons. I've always known it. For example, I could be more prepared. During potty-training, side trips to Target were a regular occurrence. One time, we were at the Old Country Buffet when my lovely girl had an accident. I left her in the bathroom with my mother and went across the street to buy her underwear and sweatpants. Problem solved.

About a month ago, I remembered she was invited to a friend's birthday party, which was to begin in 1 hour, on the way to pick her up from school. I picked Kiddo up from school in her uniform, brought her to Target to pick a birthday gift, and coordinating gift bag, as well as a new outfit for the party. She changed in the Fitting Room. As we dashed thru the aisles on the way to the check-out, Kiddo said, "Mama, people are going to think I am stealing this outfit!"

"Of course they will not! The tags are out. It's clear we are on our way to buy it. I wouldn't let you run around with tags showing, now hurry!" Problem solved.

At the party, one mother, of whom I am quite fond and somewhat in awe, shared with me that she and her children had completed their 50 Things to Do This Summer list. I told her, "I think I need to take Mom Lessons from you."

She is the mom who happened to have on hand an extra large Ziploc plastic bag big enough to hold a coat, hat, and mittens. Each child was to use this type of bag as a prophylactic measure to prevent the spread of lice. Would that Kiddo had been in possession of such bag 3 weeks before when we spent the entire Winter Break quarantined, washing everything in hot, dumping poison on our heads, and picking lice eggs with tears and cursing (mine).

She also always has extra snacks and keeps just about anything you could possibly need for an emergency in her car. She probably bought the birthday gift as soon as the invitation was issued. She's just that way.

You might imagine that I would want to stay far away from an uber-mom like her because her very existence makes me look terribly inadequate, but you would be wrong. I cherish my fellow mothers who have their ducks in a row because they always have the extra large Ziploc bags, snacks, Bandaids, tampons, and more. They have good ideas. They read Parenting magazine so I don't have to.

It's a mutual relationship. Uber-mom gets to feel superior, and I have an extra set of eyes monitoring all the details that fall through the cracks of my day. In this way, I don't have to be good at everything. I know my top priorities as a mom, and I stick to them. Probably my greatest assets as a mom are that I am open to learning, and I am not afraid to borrow a good idea. I am done trying to keep every plate spinning at the same time. I embrace my lack of organization as an opportunity to be creative, which is infinitely more fun than always being prepared. Ask Kiddo. She thinks I'm hilarious.

Kiddo and I made our 50 Things to Do This Summer. It's right on my desktop. Now, when I hear, "I'm bored," I can launch that baby, and an adventure awaits. I've shared this idea with other moms who said, "That's a good idea!" I took no credit, I just told them, "Pass it on."