Earning my stripes

Mom stripes.

Every Mom earns them in different ways.......and at different times...

Staying up all night with a sick baby.

Nursing until your nipples bleed. And still not stopping.

Letting them "cry it out"...as you cry tears of your own in the next room.

Waiting in line for hours before dawn... for the right toy to surprise him on Christmas morning.

Standing up to another Mom who has wronged your child.

Reading bedtime stories as you struggle not to nod off.

Refereeing sibling arguments, in which you want both of them to win.

Hugging her as she sobs over the best friend that no longer wants to be her best friend....as your own heart breaks in a hundred pieces.

Surviving long car rides in silence after baseball game strike outs.

Playing a video game you couldn't care less about, but he loves it.

Moments in public, when...for terrifying seconds, you can't place your eyes on your child.... you think the worst thing in the world has happened...and your heart stops.

Throwing a slumber party that will be remembered forever.

Holding your tongue when she comes out of the bedroom wearing something that doesn't match...at all.

Saying "I'm sorry" to your child when you make a mistake.

Uncomfortable conversations... when they ask questions you are not prepared to answer...and you have think on your feet, do the best you can to give direct and honest answers...and then later hope you said all the right things.

Spending half your day working on scrapbook pages you can only hope they will appreciate someday.

Helping with a school project until the wee hours on a school night...that he left until the last minute to tell you about.

and of course.....watching them at a sporting event, cheering their every move, all the while praying with all your might that he/she will hit the ball...kick the ball...remember the routine...catch the ball...make the play...get a basket...make par...run fast enough...not fall down...not get hurt...and win the game so he/she will be happy and feel good about him/herself.



Lately, my "mom stripes" take the form of this:


















Yes, it's true.

I volunteered to be the "cookie mom".


When I share this information with most people, the reaction is something along the lines of:

"wow, cool....... so you, like...get to have a lot of cookies in your house"




The reaction from people who KNOW...really know, as in like, have actual experience and/or contact with a cookie mom in the past...is more like:

"Dear GOD...you did WHAT!??"

















It's been more work than I ever expected......


organizing huge orders of cookies.........moving case after case after case AFTER CASE, from warehouse.....to car.....to driveway........to den.....then back outside........to other cars.....writing receipts....counting boxes........navigating the computer program........distributing orders.......having people stop by the house at all hours of the day.......counting cash.........balancing the numbers.......making bank deposits.........being responsible for thousands of dollars.........








But after this is over, I am certain I will be happy and grateful I did it.



We did it.





Jamie and Katie and Jordan have helped so much, and it has really been a testament to how much our family pulls together when one of us is in need.



Memories being made...
















Wanna buy some cookies?