Another Proud Moment in Motherhood

Getting Robby to school on time is my number one priority each morning. To my frustration (and it turns out my embarrassment) I failed miserably in my objective, and Robby was 15 minutes late for school. Yesterday morning was not my finest hour as a mother.

The morning started out completely normal. Other than Robby continually lamenting the fact that the two-hour delay he had hoped for never materialized, the routine was uneventful. He was dressed, teeth and hair were brushed and his lunch was made without a hitch. Per our routine, we grabbed our coats and headed to the car.

Our front door has a significant draft and we had it blocked to keep the cold air outside. I didn't want to disturb the draft buster and let the frigid temperatures invade our already chilly home, so we opted to use the downstairs slider. It turns out that this seemingly logical decision would have repercussions that impacted the rest of my morning.

I proceeded down the second flight of stairs as I devised a mental list of everything I needed to accomplish throughout the day. After ordering "Dave the ghost" to leave the room, something which I now do out of habit, Robby finally came bouncing down the stairs.  I must say, he was surprisingly happy about going to school despite his vocal disappointment about having an on-time start. We turned the corner and I reached for the handle to the door. My good morning vibe immediately changed.

About 8 inches from my foot I saw a large dead mouse. In the moment I could have sworn it was the world's largest rodent, but in actuality it was probably only 3 inches long. I wish I could say that my I swiftly cleaned up the carcass and we continued to school without missing a beat. Intellectually I know that the mouse could not harm me. After all, the little creature had already met the our feline assassin and logically posed no threat.

Unfortunately, I was startled by the discovery.  As I've come to realize, my response to being scared is anything but heroic. I screamed loudly, froze my position and regrettably release my bladder. Yes, I screamed like a little girl and peed my pants when I saw a dead mouse.

Robby was much braver than me, taking the rodent discovery in stride. He reaped praise on Charlie for making the kill and watched SpongeBob while I took a shower and changed my clothes.  We were late for school because of my urine malfunction.  I suppose I could have been vague in his excuse, but I figured that he was probably going to tell everybody that he was late because his Momom peed her pants, so I figured I would just own the incident.  With as much dignity as I could feign, I handed over the following note:  "Please excuse Robby's tardiness this morning. I saw a mouse, peed my pants and had to take a shower."  The Principal laughed when she read the note and instructed Robby to go to his classroom.  She was still smiling (and I am fairly certain I heard her giggle) when I picked him up later that afternoon.


**Happy moment #4- Scooter driving in single digit temperatures because I was craving an ice cream cake.