I'm a Less Bad Mother at the Beach

Sometimes, when I'm feeling on the verge of being a very bad mother who's crabby and rotten and acts like there are a million things more important for her to do today than be with her little girlies, I take those little girlies to Monroe Beach:It's a tiny little thing on the corner of Lake Monroe, and in the summer it's real redneck-y (trust me--I would know), but in the winter it's deserted. The girlies can frolick and just ALMOST get their feet wet in the freezing water----(until they do get their feet wet, and then it's time to go home), and I can have a little walk, and breathe, and remember that there's not much more important in the whole entire universe than those little babies of mine: (The fact that they're more than an arm's length away and not screaming at each other right in my face surrounded by the filth that is our house doesn't hurt, either).

Of course, other times we don't go to Monroe Beach and I AM a crabby rotten mother all day and I DO act like there are a million more important things for me to do today than be with my little girlies, and then late at night, after they're finally sleeping (for a couple of hours, anyway), I feel remorseful and have to lie down next to them and run my fingers through their little-girl hair and whisper apologies to them in their sleep.

I have to try to remember better next time.