Sunday, May 11, 2008

Earning Our Honor


This morning we traveled to Atlanta for a lovely Mother's Day Brunch with Grandmother, Granddaddy, Nana and Scott. My father-in-law took a few snapshots, which I have included in order to effectively set the stage for how it all ended. :-)

The food was fantastic. The company was wonderful. Live jazz was being performed by very talented musicians. The children behaved beautifully. I was able to relax and really enjoy our meal...reveling in how much I am loving 4 years old. The children even managed to drink from open glasses without any spills and enjoy chocolate mousse without staining their clothes. 

As we finished brunch K paired up with Granddaddy and the boys accompanied Grandmother and me for a brief dance to "You Make Me Feel So Young." It was all way too good to be true.

We stopped by another table to speak to some friends of the family and the children started playing baseball with the long stemmed roses we had received. But, truly, that was not a big deal in the grand scheme.

We made a brief stop at the restroom on our way back to the car. I took K & R while Daddy took P to the men's room. There were 3 stalls, so K & R each went in their own and closed the doors 'for pwivacy.' Grandmother came in behind us and commented on the events of the morning. As she observed them even independently using the restroom, she remarked at how grown up they were becoming. Just about that time, R said, "Mommy! I think I am stuck."
And he meant it. He had locked the stall and was unable to get it unlatched. 

So, I did what every self sacrificing mother would do...I sent K under the stall wall. After a few attempts, it became apparent that she was unable to unlock it.
There was no other choice but for me to go in. So, I with my disdain for public restrooms, wearing heels and a dress at a formal dining establishment, hiked it up and went under. The stall door was only about 18 inches off the ground, so I was literally sprawled out, fully prostrate on the bathroom floor with two of my children and my mother-in-law staring down at me. 

As I unlocked the stall, climbed back to an upright position, adjusted my dress and tried to regain my composure, my mother-in-law and I started laughing. The irony of this capping off our picture perfect Mother's Day was not lost on us. This ability to sacrifice our pride, face our fears, hike up our skirts and do what needs to be done--THIS is what motherhood is all about!

Hope you had a great day!

14 comments:

Tara said...

I will never forget when my oldest locked herself in the stall at church! I could just invision myself lying on the floor trying to crawl in the tiny stall while one of our more mature members walked in and talked about how her kids would never have gotten stuck...so I decided to grab the first older kid I could find walking the hall, drag them in the bathroom and let them crawl under. I am still grateful to him to this day...

Ashley said...

Happy Mother's Day! Glad you could all walk away laughing and realizing that even at formal events life happens! The trio look adorable and always and I love the picture of you and Dr. Scott too! Blessings!

Liz said...

This cracked me up...because I can soooo see myself doing this! Thank you for sharing your life with all of us, your readers.

Big Mama said...

Now that is taking one for the team.

Happy Mother's Day, Jen!

Kerin said...

I know it wasn't funny at the time - but it is!! I had to do that a time or two when my girls were young. I remember Anna "panicking" and screaming once as she was locked in the stall. Oh - how I wish I could go back and have them at that age again. They love you and want to be with you all of the time!! As I've said before, I am now constant source of embarrassment, dumb and seen as an "open wallet". I get hugs when they want something. I can't touch them in public and they prefer I not speak to them in public (or at least when their friends are present) I know God designed it this way so it would be an easier transition when they leave for college. My 15 year old is just now talking to me again in public. But, the 12 year old is a whole different story. I know they love me - but, the unconditional love of 4 year olds is a wonderful thing. Enjoy it - it DOES go by quickly!!!

Kerin said...

Sorry I didn't sign my post. Kerin

Mom of Eleven said...

thanks true sacrifice! Laughing out loud!
w

Sarah said...

Oh, that's awful! I'm sure you felt like taking a bath in Lysol afterwards. What we do for our kids!

Cheri (aka "The Mom Lady") said...

I had a thing with my kids about yelling, "MOM!" and expecting me to come where they were. We were living in Norway in a three level house and I felt like I spent most of my days running up and down stairs as it was without additional trips from "being summoned". One particular day, I was in the kitchen working and I hear from my 4 year old son, "MOM!! MOM!!!"

"Come upstairs if you want to talk to me. You know the rules", I said.

"But MOM..." he starts in again to which I cut off, "No, come to me if you want to talk"

This went on for awhile with me not letting the poor kid get a word in edgewise when I finally detected silence and a whimper. I ran downstairs to find that he has stuck his head in the banister of the stairs and couldn't get it out! He COULDN'T come to me and there I was upstairs, not letting him explain while I "stood my ground".

Half a can of Crisco later, I decided to just saw one of the spindles as his head would NOT go back out. It was a humbling experience for me - I then changed my "MOM!!" response to "Are you hurt?"...pause awaiting response..."then come to me". It has become a family joke now but at the time I was mortified!

I later asked him why his head was in the banister. His response? "I wanted to see if it would fit!"

Live and learn. I loved your story - raising kids should include "hazard pay" but I guess that's what Mother's Day is for - even if the "hazard" happens on THAT particular day!

Anonymous said...

I had to giggle at the thought of crawling under the stall.

I would have done the same though!

In case it happens again. I have learned one thing. Most public bathroom locks have a little slit on the silver part. If you use a coin or a key you can unlock the lock from the outside.

Joni said...

Bathroom althleticism at its best!

So, so funny!

Scotty said...

"and scott took the time 2 go get me a half way dead rose from a cvs in the middle of the ghetto and a really sweet card 2 that he spent at least 10 minutes trying to pick out." U forgot that part of the story little miss JMOM! LOL

ivegot5 said...

hysterical and priceless. Happy Mother's day!!

Laura

Tee said...

This post absolutely cracked me up! My husband wanted to know, "what's so funny?" I told him he would have to read it. I so identify with the distain for public restrooms!