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Most Fabulous Laundry Day
I am a survivor. Every time I get down because this motherhood thing seems too difficult, I tell myself: “I am a survivor. I can do this. I can conquer this.” For some reason this helps me. Instead of tearing my hair out and feeling like a miserable failure, I keep on keeping on. And then before I know it, I’ve moved from one obstacle to the next and I am a supermom after all! I can do it all. I just have to be tough.
Today we conquered the unfamiliar laundromat. The one that was way across town and totally inconvenient. It turns out this new laundromat rocks! It’s ten million times better than my old laundromat!
It’s twice the size and everything was clean! What a concept! There were washers and dryers lined up for miles and nobody was using them! I was the only person in there besides this little old lady who owned the place. She hobbled over and introduced herself even. Here I was worried that it might be in a shady neighborhood and it turns out to be so much more charming than my laundromat in snobville. What a relief.
If they hadn’t closed my old-faithful-across-the-street laundromat, I never would have found this groovy place. It’s in this shopping center that got stuck in the seventies and I love it! After I loaded up my washers, Baby Bug and I took a walking tour of the neighborhood. We spied an old barbershop, a real life private investigator’s office, a fish and chips dive, a strange but hip hair salon, the oldest IHOP ever, a really cool shop that I bought myself some new Mary-Kate-and-Ashley bug-eye sunglasses in and a really neat bakery that sold cookies and cupcakes. I bought myself a lemon bar and felt very proud of myself for having fun while doing laundry.
Who knows, I might start looking forward to laundry day now.
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Date Night
So where did I leave off? Date night.
My Fairy Godmother (Susan) was successful and she managed to kick us out of the house for our first night out without the baby. Phew! We did it. It was actually pretty fun. Usually Toby and I are horrible daters. We often spend the time arguing or giving each other the silent treatment. We’re horrible. But this night we both knew that we had to make the best of it because it was special and we probably wouldn’t have another date night any time soon. We were both on our best behavior.
Of course we worried about the baby the entire time but it was pleasant and I really enjoyed myself. I had my first glass of wine since before I was pregnant. It was delicious! I think Toby worried a lot more than I did. Baby Bug always falls asleep at seven and I had fed her minutes before we walked out the door. I knew I had until at least ten before she would wake up hungry. I also know that Susan would rock, cuddle, sing and dance to keep Baby Bug happy. She is an excellent babysitter.
I admit that the thought to call home did cross my mind but then I remembered how hard it is to take a phone call when the baby is crying. I know she would pick up because if she didn’t it would make me worry even worse. And if she did and the baby was crying, it would make the baby cry more and me worry more. All in all it was best not to call. If anything went wrong, Susan promised me she would call me.
Nothing went wrong. Baby Bug didn’t even make a peep the entire time we were gone. She is such a good baby.
It was so nice to go out. I think I’m struggling with this mom identity still. I felt like a million bucks when I dressed up in non-maternity clothes and Toby smiled and told me I looked nice. It’s nice to be admired as a wife again instead of just a mom. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom. But I still want to be a hot date too.
