PTG VS ATG

Giving birth the The Girl completely flipped my world. I have become a totally different mother and wife. There is something about adding that second child that just changes everything. It reminds me of the speech Uma Thurman gives in Kill Bill (with a bit of creative license)....

"Before that strip turned blue, (creative license ensues) I was a mom to one. I was your mom. I would have a fall birthday party planned and in place my spring. Before that strip turned blue, I would have feed you all homemade and organic foods and had a place for everything and everything in its place. For you. But once that strip turned blue, I could no longer do any of those things. Not anymore. Because I was gonna be a mother to two." (end of creative license)

But I do want to be that Super Mom I set out to be--I really do. I want to have a house that is clean, organized and efficient. I try to get inspiration from the things around me. For example, I watched Jon & Kate Plus 8 last night scouring for organization ideas from her. But the show--as interesting as it is--really never addresses specifically how she handles 8 children all day long. However, she did make one comment that reverberated in me. Kate said, "I am never behind because I refuse to fall behind." I am always behind anymore. I cannot believe I ever had it together enough to plan an entire party months ahead of time. Now, I forget to send out invitations, much less plan the menu. When we went on vacations, not only would I have all activities mapped out, I would pre pack up to a week ahead of time. ATG (after the Girl) I pack the morning of. And kids activities--forget about it. With The Boy, I had activties lined up almost every day--including reading time, music time, art time, and imaginary play time. With The Girl, if Elmo doesn't do it with her, it isn't getting done.

Maybe I am too hard on myself or maybe I am just lazy. But I'm trying real hard Ringo....I'm trying real hard to be the Super Mom. (ok, ok My apologies to Quinten Tarantino) I still manage to send out home made Christmas cards every year. I just redid The Girl's room in fairy theme--hand making the decorations and painting the pictures on the walls. I joined PTO. I let my child sleep in a cardboard box because he uses it for his clubhouse and wants to camp out on weekends. I make dinner at least 3-4 nights a week (maybe more). I drive a mini van and I even manage to clean the bathtub time and again.

I suppose in the grand scheme of things, all of us do our very best. No one is perfect. No one is broken either. We just do our best, muddle along and pray that one day our children will not drag us onto Oprah and talk about what bad parents we were. Although a free trip to Chicago would not be that bad...