Mother's Little Helper

I received a frantic call today from my friend Mary who desperately needed someone to pick up her kids Sam (13) and Madeline (8) from school. I was working from home and classes were finished, so I was available to help. Sam was first on the list as his school commenced at 3:15. I headed over to St. Agnes where I waited in the car line to pick him up. How do mother’s do this daily? It was so boring sitting there for 15 minutes in stalled traffic to wait for the kids. Sam spotted me and we headed over to Sherwood Elementary to get Maddie. She was nowhere to be found. Again, stalled traffic and a slow car lane. We circled around, parked the car and headed inside to search for her. She’d made a detour to the bathroom.

Time to go to my house where they were planning to stay until Doug and Mary picked them up later. I wasn’t sure if we were going to feed them dinner, but I offered in case Doug and Mary were late. I began thinking like a mother (or at least what I think a mother should think like). I needed a healthy after school snack. I offered cheese and crackers, but neither of them were hungry so I allowed Maddie a Coke. I was lamenting the fact my I had no peanut butter and my fridge was full of low-fat options. Sam announced he needed 2 dozen sugar cookies for school tomorrow so they could be decorated. I was sure Mary didn’t know about this and I knew she’d be stressed so I launched into “save the day” mode. I whipped up a batch to cookie dough just as Doug and Mary were pulling in the driveway. Sure enough, Mary knew nothing of the need for cookies and was immensely grateful I’d made the dough. All in all, it took two hours out of my day, I helped out a friend and hung out with some cool kids. Now that’s the kind of parenting I like!