When rain is your friend

I love rain for two very distinct reasons:

1. I do not have to water the flowers in my garden
2. I do not have to take Son to the playground.

Now, mothers of the world, please, do not dare tell me that there haven't been days where you'd rather have your nose hair plucked rather than taking your kid out to the playground. Sometimes I just feel lazy. Others, I just feel nice and content to be home. And sometimes, I simply feel frumpy and do not wish to comb my hair (even though there are quite a number of ladies out there at my playground who APPARENTLY do not think it is necessary to do that last one EVEN if one is to present herself to the critical eye of mommyhood at the playground--I draw the line at combing at least!). Sheesh, sometimes I do not even feel like brushing my teeth that day. And yet, every time the weather outside is nice, I hear this little, grandma-like voice at the back of my head--"You should take the child out, he should be playing in the air with the other kids, and not be stuck at home." Ugh. So yes, I love rain. So, today was a good day. It rained cats and dogs.

Which makes me think--there are SO many times my life as a mother when I know very, painfuly well what I am supposed to be doing and what is "good for the child" and yet I don't want to be doing it. Like when we ride in the elevator, and Son is lying on the floor (which is positively filthy) and rolling himself happily there--the nice man riding with me says (I suppose HE thinks he is so subtle), "Oh, well, one day he will grow up and know that it is dirty there and he should not be doing that." Yes, smartass, I KNOW he should not be rolling on the elevator floor. So what of it, as a famous friend of mine would say? Or when, in the laundry room, Son is playing with the laundry carts, nibbling on them in the process, and ANOTHER smartaleck remarks "to him"--Oh, this is dirty, you should not be doing it, to which I (cleverly!) responded, "Well, this is the cleanest thing he had put in his mouth today." She had the good sense to laugh her heart out. I forgave her.

Yes, mothers know exactly what is good for their kids and what should they ideally be doing. Like when we give them french fries and horrid looking nuggets for lunch, rather than have a fabulous, nutritious snack at hand. Or when their sippy cup falls 34 times on the ground, and we just pick it up, wipe the spigot and give it back. Or when we know we should stand up to their tantrum and show them reason. But we sometimes just do not have it in us. Period. For you working lot out there--have you had days when you just have had enough and walk out to get a coffee rather than write that pesky deck? Well, consider my letting Son roll on the elevator floor as me getting out of the office for a cup of good old coffee. So, next time you see a mom not performing up to your loftly (often childless!) standards, please, do not roll your eyes, but simply give her a break!