Playing Catch-Up

I won a parenting award a couple of weeks ago.  Of course, I had to bestow the award on myself, but it was one of those weeks where everything went right: we got out of the house on time, ran our errands without meltdowns, played with friends at playdates, and threw a minimal amount of food on the floor.  So I won an award!  Yet, because I've been on this parenting rollercoaster for at least a few hills now, I refrained from patting myself on the back just yet.

Because the last week has been the kind where parenting awards sit dusty on the shelf, perhaps rudely snatched away by the Academy.

A week of catch-up, where nothing seems to happen exactly the way I planned, where my to-do list explodes exponentially although I am happy to finish one or two things by the end of the day, where molars threaten to rob me of all sanity (and Dylan of his lunch if he keeps shoving his little fists into the far reaches of his mouth in an attempt to soothe the teething pain).

It's easy to get bogged down in these kind of weeks, to let frustration take over, especially for people (like me) who forgot to pick up their extra box of patience at the store.  I'm trying to remember that the to-do list will never truly be cleared, that the tantrums of today will fade into the teenage rants of tomorrow, and that a little pen on a princess costume just means that maybe the princess will write a novel instead of idly waiting for her prince to arrive.

So this week we coast along, knowing that another upswing is on the horizon.  We have one chance to live our lives, so I might as well throw up my hands and ride.

proof that we're a little behind right now

this was purchased in December

we made it this week

perhaps more disturbing is that the expiration date is June 2011

I think we'll pass on the eating and just admire our handiwork