Guest Post: Manga Mom!

Manga Mom comes through, yet again. Bet she wishes she had chosen a less lazy ally....

Believe it or don't, my life is often painfully awkward. I'm the
mom at the park with no tissues when my four year old comes running for
one. So, in lieu of other options, I shamefacedly encourage him to wipe
his nose on the sleeve of his coat. Yup. I'm planting bad habits early.
Other moms are giving me horrified looks. I can't help feeling they're
well deserved.

I'm also the mom at the park with no water bottle for my son after
they've turned the water fountains off for the season. This is especially
awkward when he's sweating from biking enthusiastically around the
two-mile path. (I'm sweaty, too, at that point, which isn't helping. After
all, I wasn't biking. I was jogging to keep up with him. What? My bike
doesn't fit in my car.) More often than not, this precipitates a hasty
exit in the car. I have water at home, after all!

But my biggest nemesis right now is my son's penchant for dramatic
exits. When I walk in to pick him up from preschool, he screams and kicks
up a tremendous fuss. Why? Because I've broken his routine. He is very
attached to his routine. Normally I drive up and he's assisted to the car
by his teacher, but sometimes I'm early and don't want to sit idling for
ten minutes. Call me crazy. *sigh* On Friday when I picked him up, he
actually threw himself on the floor and screamed at the teacher begging
her to help him. All in front of twenty three other impressionable
children who must be convinced by now that I'm Baba Yaga. I tried being
patient. I tried asking him to take a deep breath. I tried explaining
calmly that it was time to go home. But his antics just got more
exaggerated with each attempt to soothe him. Eventually, I was forced to
literally carry him out, cuddled to my chest, thinking dark thoughts and
wondering if I could make myself invisible if I tried hard enough.

If there is a magical cure somewhere for this behavior, I would
dearly love to hear it. I think, perhaps, it's karma for something awful I
did in another life. Or a reflection of how stubborn his parents are.
Either way, it's definitely awkward.

Here's hoping everyone's Thanksgiving is low on stress and high on
joy. Despite the drama, I really am grateful for my son.

Manga Mom is not a tissue-hating sweaty Baba Yaga, we swear it. Although, her avoidance of water bottles does raise some interesting questions.....who else didn't like water, Readers? Any Oz fans out there? I tease, I tease, there is nothing wicked about Magna Mom. Thanks for the awesomely awkward, and just plain awesome, guest post, Double M!  And if you figure out that invisibility thing, please share!