by mssinglemama on July 1, 2008
The playground can be a scary, scary place.
Last week on our nightly playground stop Benjamin and I met a mom, her 6-year-old son and her 3-year-old daughter. She had a very thick Russian accent and I spent 15 minutes answering her hard to decipher questions about the area. I wrote down useful websites, drew maps and told her about all of the free music festivals. I was on my best “mommy at the playground” behavior and even thought I might make a new friend.
As we were chatting away the kids were playing happily and then the unthinkable happened. Benjamin walked up behind her daughter and shoved her. He didn’t just shove her into the ground, no, my adorable little 2.3-year-old had just pushed a little girl off of a three feet high landing.
She went crashing down onto the mulch and then complete mayhem broke loose. [click to continue…]
by mssinglemama on February 13, 2008
I call Benjamin’s daycare at least once a day to check on him. Is this weird? Am I one of the only parents who calls…or does everyone call? I can’t help it. I have to call every day. And when I pick him up and drop him off… I linger, talking it up with the daycare ladies. Why? Because we’re talking about Benjamin.
It’s dawned on me recently (funny how things like this dawn on you two years in) that I have no one to talk to about Benjamin. There is no one else who knows my son as intimately as I do.* These ladies are the closest thing I’ve got. [click to continue…]
by mssinglemama on December 5, 2007
Benjamin is sick again! He started daycare in the early fall and this winter he keeps getting hit with sickness after sickness. That playdate I hosted turned into a big germ swap and now he has a horrible fever, night shivers, the whole nine yards. I think it’s because the other little guy at the playdate goes to a different daycare. So now he has an entirely new string of something nasty.
So this Monday I missed another day of work…I stopped counting the sick days I’ve taken so far this winter. The workaholic inside can’t digest missing so much time in the office. But I still swing into full mommy mode when he’s sick and know I have no choice but to stay home. I’m lucky though. I have an amazing job with a very understanding boss and can do much of my work from home.
What if I didn’t have a cushy job? What would I be doing right now?
One day, after a crazy night out, my friend and I popped into a Burger King for a hang over cure. It was early in the morning, maybe 9:30ish. A woman walked in with her two sons. They both ran up to the counter, “grandma! grandma!,” they shouted. Their grandmother ran around from behind the counter and scooped them both up in a hug. Thier mom stepped in, “okay boys, now sit down and be good for grandma.” The boys obeyed and took a seat in the restaurant. The mom looked at her mother, “I should be back by 1:00.” She was wearing a uniform herself, clearly off to her own job. Grandma said, “oh, it’s no problem, right Bob?” She looked at the manager of the store, he nodded in approval. Mom kissed her boys good bye and headed off to work. I thought I was going to burst into tears. The boys were swinging their little legs in their seats, twidling their fingers and starting to get ansy already. They had four hours left to go. I wanted to walk up and offer up my apartment for the afternoon. But in these moments, we usually don’t act. I didn’t. What could I have done, in reality, to help this woman? I’m not sure if she was a single mom or not, it doesn’t matter. She didn’t have a husband to save her from this moment.
I will never, ever forget seeing that and on my worst days I know that I really don’t have it that bad at all.
Sorry if this is a scattered and crazy entry. I am exhausted, have been working on projects all night. Going to crash for a bit before he wakes up again…hopefully he’ll wake up tomorrow feeling 100%. I hate seeing him sick like this.
