I screwed up as a mother. Again.
Last week, I had to miss Maya's open house to go to Sam's cheer meeting so I rescheduled the open house only to miss that one too because I had to stay late at work as I was behind from missing time to take the kids to the dentist. Maya was sad at me. Maya was mad at me. I had a plan, you see? And awry it went.
To redeem myself, I took her to see the new Cinderella movie. We got large Icees, I learned how to put a straw in the self serve butter to get perfect popcorn, and found great seats. I was pretty confident I was out of the dog house until BAM - I messed up again. This time royally. Five minutes into the movie, Cinderella's mother fell ill and I realized what was about to happen next. I looked at Maya and said "Let's get out of here, Cinderella's mom is about to die." She said "No. I thought about this after Dad died. Princesses usually lose one or both parents. It's okay." "So, you've determined that you're a princess? Is that why you're so pretty." I asked. To which she replied, "Ya," then took my popcorn.
After the movie, she asked, "What is the point of being a princess anyway? You always tell me there is no such thing as happily ever after." We sat on the bench and I thought for a minute. "You will live joyfully, mournfully, fearfully, painfully, hopefully, anxiously AND happily ever after. There is no way around it. Life is not always pretty. It is not always fun. HOWEVER... the good news is, at the end of the day you really do get to make out with the prince." "Ewwww!" she said laughing. "But what if he dies?" "Then you squeeze your kids. I love to squeeze my kids!" I said. "I really don't think I want kids though, unless I adopt." she said. "Then you'll get some cats. You'll kiss the cats. You'll squeeze the cats. You get the point?" "Ya," she said. "With cats, I will live happily ever after."
Once upon a time, I screwed up as a mother. And even still, my Maya, I think she's going to be just fine. And live her wonderful imperfect life to the fullest. And maybe even pass on my wisdom and humor to her own children. Named Fluffy and Cupcake. The end.
