Wednesdays Make Good Moms

I love Wednesdays.  I really do.  I try not to rush through Monday and Tuesday to get to Wednesday because they have their good points too, but I really love Wednesdays.  Little Man goes off to school, Peanut gets dropped for 3 hours at preschool and Sweet Pea and I are set free to roam and play.  We have our routine.  As soon as she is strapped into one of her brother's car seats (she insists on the big boy car seats in the way back of the van) we head out to her chanting of "Cookie Store" which clearly means Starbucks.  After a coffee for me and a petite vanilla scone for her, she asks for another store.  Today it was Trader Joes.  In we bounce and run through all of the aisles getting edemame and corn-free cookies.  She talks me through each aisle and purchase and we giggle and laugh.  We add Papa Bear's favorite BBQ sauce to the cart and then I pause and say "How much do we love Papa? Two bottles or three bottles" and she squeals "Three bottles!" and so in they go.  When we get in line to pay she knows there will be stickers at the end and we play games counting the items as the cashier takes them out of the cart.  Today the cashier looked at me and asked me if we found everything we were looking for and so I asked Sweet Pea if we found everything and she yelled "Ya, we did!" and I smiled at her enthusiasm.  The cashier smiled at both of us and said "I remember seeing you here before, you are the mom that really loves being a mom.  I can just tell".  I smiled and agreed but it made me laugh because just an hour earlier I was on the phone with Papa Bear and had told him that I didn't think I was cut out to be a good mom this week.  This week the lack of naps and non-stop noise was getting to me more than usual so I was taking a break from being a good mom and just trying to be a mom this week.  And last night I was telling a good friend who is expecting her first baby in a few months that if she stays sane and keeps her child alive, she is being a good mom because parenting is hard and sometimes you have to cut yourself some slack and pat yourself on the back for making it through the day.  So while the kind cashier was right, I do love being a mom and I do have some excellent kids that make my job even more joyful - what she sees, when she sees me at Trader Joes every Wednesday - is actually that I just really really love Wednesdays!