Remember When...

Reader-Mommy,

Do you ever feel like you-mommy are becoming the worst version of yourself?  Remember when you knew the lyrics to the Top 10 and sing along with the artist (who's name and bios you also knew) while driving to your pilates class in your cutie little XS workout outfit.  You'd turn the heads of all the guys in the cars around you.  Now the only attention you get on the road are those "I can't believe she left the house looking like that" stares. Remember yourself when you-mommy were thin, organized, athletic, social, and smart.  Smart! That's a word I'd forgotten.  I should look it up in the dictionary to see if it still means the same thing.  The dictionary...where did I put that?

I have to keep telling myself that I'll get it all back someday.  Once my kids are school-age and I have more than half a minute per day to myself I can start getting smart again.  I have no idea where to begin that process.  Nonetheless, I will.  I think I'll start by reading up on all the happenings around the world getting caught up on politics, fashion, people and anything else I can think of.  I'd read a self-help book cover to cover in one afternoon instead of spread it over 14 months, which defeats the purpose because by the time you get to the last chapter you don't remember what you were reading in the first place. After that, I may bust open an algebra book and re-learn how to work some of the problems.  Next I would go shopping and purchase a couple of outfits for their stylish appeal instead of for their utilitarian features such as how easy it is going to be to breast feed in this top or does this color hide food, dirt, and spit up stains. Once that was done, I would take up a hobby, something I enjoy doing just for the sake of doing it, something like tennis.  Back in the day I used to play tennis. I wonder if it is still around?  Finally, once all this was done, I'd call up a girlfriend, if I have any left by this time, and schedule a coffee date.  We'd meet to do nothing other than sit, sip our grossly overpriced and entirely impractical beverages and talk about everything I mentioned above.  We'd talk about the latest fashion and who we would like to see win the election.  We'd talk about how much we like that new book. We tell each other about how we were once again getting checked out at our gym.  Maybe we'd even hum a few lines from the latest hit songs.  Then again, we'd probably end up chatting about the most important part of our lives...our kids.  

Today I learned that you CAN mow the lawn with a 2-year-old strapped to your back.