The Mommy Test

Anybody who listens to Kidd Kraddick has probably heard the Mommy Test skit. When Kelly Raspberry was pregnant, they would do this skit where a little boy (supposed to be her stepson) would "test" Kelly by creating all sorts of havoc and seeing how she would react. This week I had two of my own "Mommy Tests".

Last Wednesday, Shelby and I flew to New Orleans. It was just a quick (VERY QUICK) trip, as I needed to be in the office for some meetings. Again, Brianne was kind enough to rearrange her schedule so that she could come over and watch Shelby and Claire in the hotel room.

The flight on Wednesday was not good. It was dinner time. We had already been delayed a bit when we got on the tarmac and had to wait for 7 other planes to take off. This was also the first time Shelby's ears have really bothered her on the plane. She was not a happy camper. Thank goodness we had a row to ourselves, but even more importantly, thank goodness that flight is only a little over an hour long. That was Mommy Test #1.

So I got in Wednesday night, had meetings all day Thursday, met Jordan in Mandeville for dinner that night, worked all day Friday, then flew home Friday night. Told you it was a quick trip!

Thanks again, Bri, for watching Shelby. I know she had a great time playing with Claire Bear!



Saturday morning we attempted a visit to the pumpkin patch at the Dallas Arboretum. The Arboretum is BEAUTIFUL! (Lexi, we definitely have to go there for picnics in the Spring.) Of course I went with the highest of hopes of snapping some cute Halloween pictures of Shelby. She wore her cute Halloween onesie, had on her cute Jack-O-Lantern socks, and I brought her super cute Halloween sweater that I bought 2 years ago, and have been DYING to put a child in ever since. So of course Shelby was uncooperative. She would either not sit still, or not look up. We finally left and decided we might try a pumpkin patch sometime this week and hope for better results.







But that was not Mommy Test #2. That came later. When we left the Arboretum, we ate lunch at Chili's where Shelby filled up on Mac and Cheese and Baked Potato Soup. She would occasionally lay her head on the table, and we just thought she was tired. After Chili's, we headed over to Target to pick up a toy for Shelby's friend, Mabel (Shelby calls her "Babel"). Just as I turn the corner to one of the toy aisles, Shelby starts spewing in a way that could rival Linda Blair. Of course, my initial reaction is to cup my hands in front of her, but that was not going to be sufficient this time. She soaked her clothes, the cart, and the floor. Jeremy ran to find some paper towels, while the worker in electronics calmly walked up with that powder stuff and started cleaning up the huge mess. We proceeded to strip Shelby down to nothing but her diaper and I had to quickly carry her out through the crowded store.

As I was washing my hands for the twentieth time, and trying to clean bits of food out of my rings, I thought about my reaction to the situation. Only for Shelby would I instinctively hold my hands out to catch her vomit. That's love.