15 Reasons You're Awesome. (inspired by LouLou's Views)
Here is a list of 15 ways that being a parent makes me more awesome than before:
1. I can listen to multiple requests at one time and respond to all of them. Example of simultaneously spoken requests: "Mom, Mayzie took my ____." & "May I have some juice please." I respond, "You put it down, so she can play with it now and yes, you can have some juice. Thank you so much for using your polite words."
2. I accidentally named my girls after minor literary characters. Annika is Pippi Longstocking's friend and Daisy Head Mayzie was the last book officially written by Dr. Seuss. I always just loved the names, and now I love them more since I realized this odd fact.
3. I flew internationally with 2 kids under 5 without incident (potty or customs or otherwise). It. was. awesome...though I did have a little help from some sleepy gum and an iPad filled with kid movies.
4. From the driver's seat of my car I can reach into the backseat for things that fall to the floor, to hand snacks to waiting hands, and to tickle either daughter just above the knee.
5. I can distract a screaming 2 year old like a boss. (Oh my gosh, is that Bo on the Go over there?)
6. I have stealth skills; I can secretly eat chocolate while my kids are playing in the next room.
7. I am very quick to come up with alternative explanations to things.
Example:Annika: "Mommy, why are you and daddy naked?"
Me: "We're just putting our pajamas on honey."
8. I am also very quick to come up with alternative lyrics to songs when necessary.
Current favorite: You're from the 70s but I'm a 90s chick. (p.s. Why can't they just play the clean version on th radio until after 8pm for me?!?!)
9. I can come up with a healthy-ish lunch in less than 5 minutes. Our former babysitter's personal favorite lunch that I left for her to feed the kids once: Venison sausage, blueberries, & crackers with goat cheese.
10. I can get myself and two small children up, dressed, and out the door in less than 20 minutes if necessary. Believe me, this is a feat of great magnitude.
11. I can tell if we're going to be mom friends in less than 5 minutes. Judge-y? No thanks! Funny? Yes please!
12. I know when I've had enough and need a mommy time-out. It isn't always possible to take a time-out, but I know when I've reached my limit of kid crap both literal and figurative.
13. I always have some sort of random entertainment and candy in my purse. This week: bubbles and sanddorn throat lozenges leftover from my last trip to Berlin.
14. My purse also always contains at least one plastic shopping bag and spare underpants for my 2 girls and myself (in case of sneezes or trampolines).
15. I lick my thumb and wipe my kids faces with it even though I swore that I never would, and it doesn't even phase me that this is just another small way that I'm turning into my mother.