On Forgetting

I seem to be having a hard time getting back into the swing of things since the New Year. Not sure what is going on with me, but I hope I fix it SOON! Our routines are still upside down, my house is all a clutter, and my organization has been tried and found wanting. For example...

Things I have forgotten since December 31st, 2010:

That I have joined Weight Watchers and do not need three boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

Apparently, I must have forgotten that I am MOPS Table Leader, Publicity Manager, and a writer of MOPS newsletter, as I neglected all of my duties for the month of January or remembered them just in time. Very embarrassing and so unlike me.

My keys. And my cell. Turns out I had locked them in the car in the parking garage of Park Plaza whilst I obliviously strolled Baby Gap and Gymboree. The spare key arrived ten minutes before the mall closed, conveniently.

We forgot that we had nursery duty at church until we arrived late and wondered why there was no one in the nursery to watch our baby.

I forgot that cars require gas to get from A to B. Luckily, I was able to sputter into the gas station before I found myself stranded in West Little Rock with two kids napping in the backseat.

My billfold. Or more specifically, my money. Will be sure to check that both are in my purse before entering the McDonald's drive thru and ordering a Happy Meal. My hungry and impatient preschoolers will be especially gratified that I not repeat this mistake.

I forgot to take all of my antibiotic when I was sick.

And...I forgot to give my kids all of their antibiotic when they were sick. (Yes, yes. Am horrid, bad mother.)

A playdate. I remembered the night before our 10am playdate at Rock Creek.

In my defense, we were sick throughout January, and that really does shake things up around here. Unfortunately, we are sick again. (I am wrapped in two blankets and have a tissue charmingly stuffed in each nostril as I write this.) Every mom knows how much havoc a cold/flu virus can wreak on a family of four, especially when the invalids are snowed in. It was a slow recovery and I think it came with some setbacks. By the time the snow cleared AND the kids were well, I must have been delirious with cabin fever.

Yes, cabin fever. That was surely the root of my memory problem.

Or I am just half crazed mother of a three year old and 21 month old and delirium has come to be quite a natural characteristic for me.

Anyway, on a more serious note, ebb and flow is the rhythm of a stay at home mom's daily life. Sometimes I have it all together, and often I don't. In the three years that I have been a mother, I have found that the only thing that stays consistent is the fact that nothing stays consistent. A child that sleeps well for months will suddenly begin night waking, my picky eater becomes a voracious eater, Elmo is overthrown by Dora, tantrum patterns flare and then abate. A home full of growing children is a dynamic, ever changing home.

It's hard to keep up.

By the way, if someone can tell me what the point of this post was, I would love to know. Otherwise, I'm just gonna go ahead and blame it on my current illness.

Hoping flu season leaves you all free of cabin fever induced delirium.