Our own version of Freaky Friday, except it was Thursday. Mia was insisting she would love to be Mom for the day—any day, and for days on end—in place of being her own overworked, picked on, tragic self.Game on.
I would do her chore and zone, and she would do what I normally do, along with enforcing house rules (as opposed to making up her own). As a bonus, she would demonstrate to the Hag who currently runs the household how a "Nice Mom" acts.
I promptly swept Mia's kitchen floor and threw in the mudroom floor for good measure. Next, I picked up and wiped her zone, the kids' bathroom. "Mama Mia, I did an extra good job on my zone for you :)" Then I was off to my bedroom for some one-on-one time with the computer. Ahhhhh. I visited and commented on blogs I hadn't seen in weeks and emailed a couple of contacts. My one-hour limit of screen time would be up soon enough, so I settled into a cuddlebag and watched some tv. I chatted with Hubs on the phone and then rocked out on my headphones and danced around the house.
Meanwhile... Mia looked after Elle and kept tabs on Cam and Cy all afternoon. The kids were all in on the switch, so when Cam needed his bottom wiped, and Cy needed a splinter pulled out of his palm, they knew who to call. She sent three kids to time-out for various offenses (which she enjoyed immensely). As occasion permitted, I showed her what I would have been doing, so she looked up the recipe I had in the works for dinner, did a couple of loads of laundry, wiped up marker from a doorjamb, re-swept up dirty footprints of four 9-year-olds running through the kitchen, wiped a spill on a shelf of the refrigerator, made a quick side-dish and rolls, and added cheese to the baking casserole. She figured it would be easier to just set the table herself rather than round up and prod the kids to do it, so she did. Elle was starving, so she got her situated in the highchair with her bib, a bowl of food and a sippy cup. After dinner, a diaper change, pajamas for Elle and Cam, checking and re-checking Getty's homework, rounding up the family for devotional, and getting the kids into bed.
What happened next was remarkable. Rob asked, "So, did you have fun, Mia?" She leaned her head on me and said quietly, "That was hard, Mom."
You should see the smile on my face.
9 comments:
Priceless! Could you take over being mom to my kids because you always seem to know how to teach your kids what they should know. I'm so impressed. And kudos to Mia for hanging in there for more than 15 minutes.
That's awesome! Good job on that one! I'll have to remember that for future reference! :)
LOL. That's great. I am really impressed that she actually did all of that though! Not surprised, it is Mama Mia after all, but impressed.
I was wondering why suddenly I got 3 comments from you on my blog! Thanks by the way for the advise on being a Relief Society teacher. I'll have to talk to you more about it the next time I see you. I think I am not nearly as comfortable with it as you are, although my first lesson wasn't quite as hard as I expected. And they didn't release me from my other calling so in between my lessons they're still keeping me busy.
I'm impressed too that Mia made it the whole day without asking to be released from her "mom" duties. Sounds like she learned her lesson that her life really isn't that hard. I don't know how she did it. I'm constantly exhausted with 3 kids.
It sounds like even though it was tough, she pulled through and did an awesome job. I think every kid needs an experience like this...at least once. Hopefully the lessons she learned will stick for awhile! :)
Awesome! I can't believe she lasted so long. Lucky you!
Oh, that is good! I was laughing the whole time. You did a great job of holding back and letting her finish the whole day on her own. Great idea! I'm sure she appreciates you all the more. :)
Good effort Mia! Punk wanted to switch me one day and she didn't last an hour!
You always know how to turn your kids curiosities into learning experiences. Smarty pants.
I love the line about the hag running the household. Too funny.
Oh, the drama. Good job. I am always so impressed with your parenting skills.
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