My sweetheart had instant credibility in his black suit and starched white shirt. I on the other hand had taken approximately two seconds on my appearance that morning, something I was acutely aware of as I adjusted the ill fitting shirt for the hundredth time in 5 minutes. My fingers inadvertently made their way over to the mothers necklace hanging around my neck and continued to fumble with it as I read down through the questionnaire.
88. "Is parenting harder than you thought it would be?"
89. "Do you believe yourself to be a capable parent?"
90. "Do you spend most of your time doing things for your children?"
I caught Brandon trying to cheat as he balanced his clipboard on his knee next to me. We laughed quietly about it and then he proceeded to copy a few more of my answers. When the myriads of paperwork were turned in we were invited into her office. "Do you work?" she asked me as she flipped through the pile of papers.
"I'm just a homemaker." (An awful word "just." It seems to finagle it's way in every time I describe my life.) She made some comment about it being a job without pay and then furiously back peddled with an even more perplexing explanation about how it really is with pay. We all did the courtesy laugh and pushed forward.
Two hours later she leaned back in her chair and quite confidently announced our child's diagnosis. She also said that it was evident that we had a "lovely relationship" with our child followed by more kind words about our parenting.
We had indeed passed the test, the underlying test that every parent realizes is taking place when their child is being evaluated. Our parenting had been under scrutiny and in the end she chose the word "lovely."
Why did I feel pleased when in fact had she offered any other opinion I surely would have tried to write it off?
After all, she is just a professional,
At church Sunday Nick ran up in front of the pulpit
and started flailing his arms and screaming.
I was by his side in an instant pulling him to the exit door.
He grabbed tight to a banister and my ugly, crazy mom face appeared
as I fiercely pulled him off and out the door
just seconds before the prayer began.
No one used the word lovely concerning me or my son that day.
Happy Father's Day.
4 comments:
Been there, done that. So happy to hear that you are a "lovely" parent.
I saw you pull him out of church and I thought wow she is so calm and in control. Kudos to you, what you felt inside didn't show on your face or in your actions. I think the professional was spot on; "lovely."
TG
I missed the "ugly mom face" moment.... darn. I have yet to see that on you. I spent 30 hours sleeping over the weekend due to a migraine. Poor Derick.. Happy Father's Day in Deed. Plus it was his Birthday on Sunday. Thank Heaven for good friends who invited them over for a wonderful dinner on my dehalf!
I have never seen your ugly moms face.You are to beautiful..inside and out. I think I would like to see your ugly moms face:)lol
Your the BEST.Love ya dear friend!
Post a Comment