The Snorkel

At the football game on Saturday, my snorkel fell out of my activity bag.  Why would I be carrying a snorkel?   Why not?  

Tim is super dad--
he coaches JT's flag football team
and helps coach Peyton's team.

I feel like the caption for this picture shoud be
"God loves football."
And for some reason, I think that is so funny.  

I've never been one of those moms with the monogrammed 31 bag full of extra snacks, wipes and band-aids.  I'm not much of a planner.  When I hear the words "be prepared" I usually spend more time singing them like Scar in The Lion King rather than actually preparing.

I'm more of a fly by the seat of your pants kind of mom.  Sure, I may not have all the supplies for a given situation, but I'm always ready.  I'm ready to make the best of the situation, teach the kids that everything will be okay.  When Wade forgets to put on his shoes for his big brother's baseball tournament and we don't realize it until we are at the tournament, no, I don't have extra shoes for him in the minivan.  But I do have a snorkel from our beach trip earlier in the summer to make him laugh and extra sunscreen (never taken out from previously mentioned beach trip) for his tender little toes.  

Can we really be totally prepared anyway?  I mean sure, your kid's blood sugar gets a little low, that extra snack bar will most definitely come in handy.  But lately, I've had some crazy shit happen.  A stick going through Lucy's finger, who can be prepared for that?  I mean really?  

I always have a book in case the other kids don't feel like watching the game.  Yeah, this book happened to be in Spanish and none of speak or read Spanish, but it had pictures so it kept them busy for a while.

This past Saturday evening, we went on a family walk.  We went off the main path and pretended we were explorers because we love that stuff.  Wade tripped over a tree root and directly into a bee hive, nest or whatever they are called when they are in the ground.  He was covered with bees and running for the road.  The whole family and our dog ran behind him screaming, arms flailing.  Well the dog wasn't screaming and she doesn't have arms, but you know what I mean.  It was every man (and dog) for himself for a few minutes.  We were quite a sight. Once Tim and I caught up with Wade, we stripped him down to his underwear and got rid of all the bees.  The poor boy ended up with 14 stings, bites or whatever you call them.  

I wrapped Wade up in my sweater and we headed for home.  After a bath and some Benadryl, Wade was better.  After a glass of wine, I was better.  But seriously, sticks and bee attacks...who can prepare for those?  Life throws some pretty crazy curveballs.

Wade was back to his old self the next day,
trying to keep up with the big boys.
(And doing a pretty good job blocking Tim.)

Some days I bemoan my unpreparedness and wish I could be like moms who fill their minivans with essentials.  I've indeed borrowed wipes from the mom with the 31 bag full of all things practical and been very grateful for her certain kind of preparedness. Hopefully I've made some kids and moms laugh with my out-of-place/off-season snorkel.  Or at the very least made some mom feel better who is upset with herself for packing everything but the extra wipes. 

We're a village right?  We can help each other. It's dangerous to get caught up in comparisons and judgements.  Feeling less than or better than each other.   

My prepared just may not look like your prepared.  Just like my volunteering may not look like your volunteering. My parenting may not look like your parenting.  But we need each other.  Especially for the crazy curveball moments in life when no amount of planning can help and we drop everything to do what we can for one other.

We need traditional planners, non-traditional planners and moms that sing just like Scar in The Lion King.  And who knows, there may come a day when someone somewhere says "if only someone brought a snorkel" and I will truly be prepared.

What type of mom-person are you?  Practically Prepared or Fly-By-The-Seat-Of-Your-Pants Prepared?  Traditional Planner or Non-Traditional Planner? Or somewhere in between?

In case you don't remember the song, here is the tune I would set on fire in a Karaoke jam session--"Be Prepared" from The Lion King.

Last spring I made a vlog about what was in my purse, it's kind of funny to see all the crap that I found in there (no snorkel).  Check it out.  What's in your purse?  What's in your bag?