I was THAT mom

My family had an exciting start to our week. On Sunday, my church held an outdoor worship service, which was very demanding for me and the team I lead. (Shh - don't spill my secret, but I do enjoy the outdoor events even thought they are a LOT of work.) After the physical labor and emotional toll of the long morning, I spent the afternoon in a daze. After dinner, I finally gathered the materials my kids would need the next morning for their first day back at their once-a-week program for homeschoolers in our area.

I took out the backpacks. I set out spare clothes to send for those "just in case" scenarios that pop up unexpectedly. I gathered a few miscellaneous supplies they were supposed to take with them.

And then it happened.

I realized my son's backpack was too small and couldn't fit the one-inch binder he needed. We didn't have pencil bags to store the markers, crayons, and pencils each child was supposed bring. I discovered we had limited lunch options because we hadn't been thinking about packing lunches again. My daughter's shorts were too short to wear to school after her summer growth spurt, and it was going to be too hot to wear pants (and it's likely those wouldn't have fit either).

Did I mention this happened at 8 pm and we were prepping for the next morning?

In that moment, all I could think was I am THAT mom. The scatter-brained, scrambling-at-the-last-minute, letting-her-kids-down mom.

But instead of being swept away in a downward spiral, I let myself laugh about the absurdity of it all and tried to adapt.

I asked my hubby to make an emergency trip to Target to get a backpack, pencil bags, and fruit for the kids' lunches. I found my daughter a pair of shorts that were too small for me, but fit her. (That was a reality check moment!) We found solutions for lunch (sunbutter sandwich for one, chips and salsa for the other, newly purchased grapes and a juice box for both).

In other words, we made it work, even though it wasn't how I would have chosen to spend the evening (and it meant the kids went to bed later than I would have liked).

And sometimes that's what we need to do. We need to ditch the preconceived, perfectionist notions of what it's "supposed" to look like, and do the best with what we have.

As you finish out the week, I hope you'll remember that's what moms everywhere are doing. If you're feeling inadequate, unprepared, or uncertain, you're not alone. I'm THAT mom, and maybe you are too. At any rate, we're all trying to do the best we can.

Sending you a virtual high five for staying in the game!