Moms Grow Up Too

Every year as Zach's birthday approaches, I speak to his teacher and see what I can do in his class to celebrate. When he was in preschool you could almost do full blown parties (I chose not to...just brought cupcakes and drinks). In kindergarten you could bring a snack (no drink) and everyone would sing and eat in the classroom. In first grade it was cupcakes on the playground during the final minutes of the school day. Second grade, with a new school, was just drop off a treat, while Zach was gone to recess and then leave.

I asked Zach what he wanted me to bring. When Zach was in kindergarten, I painstakingly made 24 cupcakes with maroon paw prints on top for the school mascot. I probably spent half a day working on those silly things. (Maroon icing is not an easy color, I learned.) So when Zach told me that he wanted the soft iced cookies from the grocery store, I was a little surprised. "I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings..." he added. Hurt my feelings? I thought about it for a second. I could pretend to be Supermom and try to make the same cookies, or I could be thankful that my kid liked the ones I could pop in the grocery store and buy and I would have none of the mess or time commitment of baking.

"No, that doesn't hurt my feelings at all," I replied. "I will bring them by tomorrow afternoon."

I realized as I reflected on that discussion that I had grown up too. I was learning to grow from the mom who thought she had to do everything to the mom who knew when it was okay to cut a few corners. Especially when those corners were the ones requested anyway.