The last three days have been interesting…
.
It’s the First time BOTH of my kids have had projects at the same time.
(Be sure to check out hilarious science fair pics)
I hear myself sounding just like my mother and as much as I hated what she told me … she was right.
.
I was so rotten as a teenager.
.
But I guess that was my job.
.
Maybe that’s the point of having kids. To learn how much of an asshole you were and truly appreciate your own parents.
.
The other day, I said to my son
“I didn’t have kids to have them stare at a screen like a zombie all evening.”
His reply, “Then what did you have kids for?”.
.
That’s a good question.
.
I actually didn’t have an answer ….
.
I always said I DIDN’T want kids.
.
I was the oldest and I had to change three of my siblings diapers and feed them.
.
I remember cleaning poop from under my brothers balls and thinking “The hell with this.”😂
.
As teenagers, I remembered how atrocious my siblings and I were to my mother.
.
I never understood why my mom wouldn’t just go to bed when I was out 😂🙈😜
.
Now I pick my kids up bitching and whining at 9:30pm because I want to go to bed.
.
I never wanted to deal with that.
.
I wanted to avoid that struggle and stress; Just completely bypass that journey.
.
Then I fell for how adorable pregnant bellies are, how good babies smell & how cute and funny kids are when they are little. I got suckered into it.😂😜
.
My maternal instinct kicked in I suppose.
.
My heart wanted something despite what my brain said.
.
But still…What did I have kids for?
After I drive back and forth on 127th street twelve times in a day with school, practices, games while juggling work, laundry, appointments, and making dinner; I think of Henry Hill and the last half hour of Good Fellas.
.
While he is driving around, the helicopter is following him yet he attempts to go about his overbooked day…paranoid.
•Henry: 6:55am Doing a line of Coke
(Me: 5:55am – Energize drank🤪)
•7:30am Henry: Attempt to drop off guns to Jimmy (Me: Attempt to drive kids to school as fast as I can while kids fight)
•Henry: Get screamed at by Jimmy that guns are wrong and the drugs are turning his brain into mush
(Me: Kids bitch the whole way to school that they are always late because of me.)
•Henry: Dropping off guns in a paper bag
(Me: Finally Dropping kids off at school with lunches. Kids bitch about what’s in their lunch)
•Henry: Pick his brother up from hospital
(Me: Pick up medications from CVS)
•Henry: Braise veal, pork shanks and sausage for tomato sauce and while also getting some other great ideas for an appetizer
(Me: Scrolling on Pinterest for something to make for dinner and then end up giving up and default to spaghetti and frozen meatballs)
•Henry: Pick up a morose Karen
(Me: Pick up annoyed kids from school)
•Henry: Ditch the guns at his mother-in laws
(Me:Drop one kid at practice)
•Henry: Go pick up Drugs for Pittsburg deal
(Me: Pick up one kid from practice, drop one at a game early, go back home to drop other one off to finish homework, go back to other kids game -now late)
•Henry: Go to his side chic’s house to have her cut the drugs while she berates him; he eventually escapes cackling and she whips a cup of coke at him.
(Me: Make my kids do science projects and get the shit off dining room table while they bitch the whole time that they have to do this project. Get this project out of my life!!!)
•Finally eating dinner
••Like me, Henry did Not anticipate any setbacks like:
•Henry: The guns will be wrong and he has to figure out how to get money back.
(Me: Return some gifts the kids said they wanted for Christmas; but changed their mind- if I don’t do it today within the 30 day mark I will have to accept store credit🤬)
•Henry: Argue with his wife, Schmooze side chic to get drugs, and debate with his drug mule
(Me: Debate with old man about who drives where and why he thinks he can sit on the couch while discussing this.;)
•Henry: Give instructions to his old babysitter now drug mule only for her to ignore what he said, do exactly what he said not to and also forget her hat
(Me: Tell kids how to do science fair poster measurements, they say they understand, get annoyed with me and then they do exactly what I said not to do, all crooked- plus forgot science book)
•Henry: Almost getting into a car accident While looking at helicopter
(Me: Trying to find the away game location, not looking in front of me and almost back ending someone)
•Henry: When picking up his brother from hospital, the doctor made him sit down for an evaluation because he was so stressed out. (Me: Sitting at game with massive RBF, other parents who got it together ask me if I’m ok.)
Then all that shit doesn’t matter suddenly because the Cops arrive as Henry is about to leave to get his old babysitter’s hat. All the craziness Henry Is doing, doing, doing, STOPS. All that business aka BUSY-ness stops. There’s a GUN to his head. He HAS to stop!
Me: In an attempt to maximize some time, I think it’s a good idea to put two boxes of Christmas decorations away in the shed while kids doing project. It’s dark out and I trip on a frozen hose (that’s been left out since summer🙈) and completely wipe out on my right side smashing into the frozen brick-like ground. I’m tangled in the hose as if a boa constrictor is wrapped around my legs. I can barely get up my right arm hurts so much.
I’m laying on the cold, hard ground, wailing in pain, furious with myself exclaiming “everything sucks!”.
I manage to roll onto my back – still entangled in the stiff, frozen snake-hose. I continue to sob feeling sorry for myself as the pain slowly subsides.
I stare up at the lightly snowing sky.
I stop crying.
It’s so quiet and peaceful. I laid there for what seemed forever but it was probably two minutes. Had an Epiphany:
Who cares when I get all this done? What am I in such a hurry for?
I surrender. I raise the white flag.
I walk back into the house using only my left arm, laughing at myself thinking of Molly Shannon walking without using her arms. None of this matters. Now I can’t use my right arm so I’m forced to stop.
.
I sit down with the kids at the table. I let them ask me questions.
I let them TELL ME how they are going to do their project. I STAY QUIET. I let them tell me what they learned. I’m actually learning something new as well. I laugh at some of the pictures they found.
Instead of “getting it done” I realize I can enjoy the process of getting it done. I need to stop and BE where my kids currently are.
They just need me there for reassurance. They want to make sure they are doing it right. They need me to be PRESENT… KINDA like a mama bird does before she kicks them out of the nest…
I never thought I would miss them being toddlers and I totally do now… My heart hurts when I see pictures or videos of them when they are little. I stare at my toddler nephews in awe and amazement.
.
I suppose I will miss being an unpaid Uber driver, them saying mom 749 times a day and all this schedule craziness as well someday.
.
.
Just as Henry is alive and free, he is bored as hell and “there’s no action.” He misses “The Life”. I suppose I will too. However, I refuse to be bored…I plan on binge/watching all the shows I don’t have time for now😜
#henryhill
#motherhood
#gretchenrubin
#goodfellas
Quillan Kelly-Dunn 