Camp!

She’s gone…for a week! No communication, no texting, no phone calls, nothing! For a whole week! I’m not sure who’s more excited about it; her father, her or me!?!

It still doesn’t hide my worry hat…

No communication! Oh, sure, I can send her letters and emails but I can’t get anything in return. Not even a nod from the camp counselor saying “She’s fine, Mom!” “Don’t worry, Mom!” “It was just a scratch and we took care of it just like you would, Mom!” Nothing, Nada, Zilch!

Wait! Look there, under my arm, what’s that? It’s my party hat!!!

On Monday, July 4, 2011, I will have NO children! We are dropping the boys off for the weekend and my husband and I are going out. We may see a movie…or three! We may go to a fancy (or, not so much) restaurant and order everything on the menu and have drinks to go along with it!! (Uh! I gasp at the foreign thought!)

Let’s be sensible, shall we?! It’s only a week and she probably won’t miss us at all! This week will blow by and, before you know it, we will all be back to our normal selves and all this camp business and worry business will just be a distant memory.

But, while it’s still fresh in my mind – Yes, waiter, I will have another martini!

My Patience Hat!

Today, I am wearing my patience hat. It’s flaming red in color and steaming hot to the touch. It is constantly on the verge of boiling over and it probably would if it weren’t for the two straps that keep it on  -  prayer and forgiveness. As well as, and most importantly, the clasp known as The Love of God that keeps everything fitting perfectly and keeps patience on the top of my head and not spilled and splattered all over the place!

It’s day three of Spring Break and the kids and I are having a great time. Today we all decided that we would go to the bike trail (did you hear that – “…we ALL decided…”?). We have a very cool bike trail that is within a few driving miles of our house. We park at the library and take the trail from there. It’s three miles long and if you don’t have someone to pick you up at the end of the trail, and you have to ride it back, then it’s six miles! Don’t be jealous of my mad math skills!! Afterwards, we always go to the library. It’s a great day all around and the kids love it.

Today, as the wind is blowing through my hair and my beautiful children are complaining that their legs are starting to hurt, I’m thinking that I’m going to go home and put on my Mother-Of-The-Year Hat!! Well, you know what they say about Best Laid Plans?? I don’t either but I’m thinking that it goes something like, “…always end in failure if there is a twelve-year-old girl involved!”

Why does her attitude come out when I’m trying to do something nice? Why can’t she save her attitude for her father or her friends?? Why do I ALWAYS get the brunt of that girl’s hissy-fits??? Ugh! She is riding a thousand feet in front of us. She’s not waiting for us at the stop signs or cross-walks AND every time she stops she’s texting someone! REALLY?! Come on! This is family time!

I have no idea what crawled up that girls britches but she wanted everyone, especially me, to know that she was not happy! So, with my patience hat securely intact, I reassured her that she would NOT be going to the library afterwards and she most certainly WOULD NOT be going to Rita’s after that (do you like how I sweetened the deal by adding Rita’s to the mix?). Well, after that, it was like she just took a whole bottle of Midol – she was great!!

So, we went to the library and Rita’s (I couldn’t say “No” at that point!) and now we are home planning what movie we are going to see. Hmmmmm!! Maybe I’ll go dig for my Mother-Of-The-Year Hat after all!