One of the things that I was determined to do, was to be THAT mom. You know the one. The one who always looks perfect at pick up and drop off. The one who packs the perfectly healthy lunches for her child (and her child actually EATS the healthy stuff). The one who never has to lick her hand and then use it to smooth down her child's hair. The one who can somehow have her kids looking perfect, herself looking perfect, and have everyone at school on time and smiling.

Yup. That was going to be. In fact, someday, it WILL be me. Just not today.

I dropped off AJ this morning, and was wearing an ugly stained t-shirt and my tennis shoes. My hair was in a ponytail. Definitely NOT dressed like THAT mom. But see, in order to be THAT mom, I need to drop about 25 pounds, which unfortunately requires a bit of effort on my part. So t-shirt and tennis shoes it was so that I could go straight from school to walk around the neighborhood for a half hour.

I figured I'd make up for it by looking good at pick up time. I showered, shaved my legs, put on a cute little skirt (not too little...remember the 25 pounds?), and wore some low heels. Felt pretty good about myself. Until I got there and realized I had forgotten my lotion. Living in the desert, you HAVE to remember your lotion...especially right after you shave. So my legs looked like the skin was about to fall off. Yuck. Oh, and I noticed that my toenail polish was peeling really badly.

And did I mention that Megan was wearing a too small shirt and had food on her face? And Drew was sporting a mohawk? And nobody was really smiling.

Hoping to make things a little better, I told AJ on the way home that on Monday, both he and daddy have the day off, so we will all be home as a family. I expected him to shout for joy, but instead he burst into tears and yelled, "I DON'T WANT TO STAY HOME! I DON'T LIKE HOME! HOME IS BORING!"

Sigh. So much for being THAT mom. Maybe tomorrow... Or in a few months after those 25 pounds are history....