Mommy Day

As opposed to a "Thea" Day. Formally known as Morgan and Mommy Day, but I'm trying to break Morgan's habit of calling it that, since I'm sure it will be yet another scar on Zoe's psyche. This was intended to be a day in the week that I didn't work and spent quality time with my children while doing 500 loads of laundry.

This week, however, was actually back to "Morgan and Mommy" because Morgan got a photo shoot in Columbus and while the original plan was to take Zoe with me, the more I thought about the trip, the less optimistic I became. So I shipped her off to Thea's instead.

7:30 am - Out of bed and do the normal making of beds, getting laundry to the basement, emptying dishwasher type work. I had promised a stop at the library in the morning and my plan was to have the car packed for our trip by 9:15.

Items that thwarted this plan...unable to find power adapter for portable DVD player (still in Scott's car), unable to find DVD that was due at the library (ended up renewing it and finding it later when we get home), unable to find cream colored tights to take to shoot (never existed, except in my head, apparently). Actually, compared to some days, we didn't do too bad, although I did have to run back in the house because I forgot to close the downstairs windows after I turned on the AC. That could have been bad.

9:35 am - Leave for library. The girls have to show their summer reading contest treasure maps to get their stickers and prize drawing entry. And Morgan wants new Strawberry Shortcake DVDs. I figure we can leave by 10:15.

Items that thwarted this plan...Snuggle Bugs started at 10 for the 3 and under kids. Zoe usually goes to this, although we haven't been all summer, but I felt bad because they saw all the other kids going into the room so I made the deal that we could go but had to walk out of the library as soon as Snuggle Bugs was over.

10:30 am - Leave for Thea's. Mapquest says it's a 2 1/2 hour drive, but we know that is an over estimate and I planned on being on the road by 10:45, which does happen, So I should be there by 1:00.

Items that thwarted this plan...My laptop, which I brought for Morgan to watch the DVD since the battery was completely charged, has an automatic screen saver on it that requires a password. So I pull into a parking lot in North Olmsted, unlock the screen saver and try to get into my settings, which freezes the media player. Have to reboot the entire computer and then change the screen saver settings and then restart the movie before getting back on the road. 15 more minutes into the drive, the screen saver comes back on. Ugh! But Morgan actually was content to listen to the entire movie without being able to see it. We still made it by 1:20pm.

1:30 pm - Call Time. These contracts usually say that Morgan gets paid for a minimum of 2 hours, but it rarely takes more than an hour. I figured it would take the full 2 since I was told she would be in 3 separate outfits this time, so that puts us on the road back home at 3:30.

Items that thwarted this plan...She didn't get called to hair and make up until 2:45 and her first picture was taken around 3:00. This made Morgan a little antsy and more concerned with how tight the shoes were, which meant a longer time getting the shot they needed. All the outfits of the day could be stepped into, so they would do her hair and then put the outfit on, but in her second change the dress suddenly had to go over her head which had just been topped with a tiara. This meant the tiara had to come off, dress put on, and hair re-done. (Also, I do not recommend the "Snow Princess" pattern, as none of the fabric laid nicely and Morgan hated how it slipped around her). Since she was the only kid there and they were trying to set up another shot for the next day, they kept using her to take test shots in between her outfit changes.

4:30 pm - On our way home. Nana T graciously agrees to pick Zoe up from Thea's for me. Home by 7:00 pm. (stopped to get gas and decided Morgan should probably eat more than the snack food she had all day, and I figured we were so beyond late that stopping at Burger King was the least of my problems)

On a related note of Murphy's Law, Scott stayed downtown for a "going away" party for one of the firm's secretaries and had to take a cab home, because his car got locked in the garage after 10:00 pm. Classic!

Oh, but I do wish I had a tape recorder going during hair and make up, because Morgan never shut up. "You sure have a lot of stuff. This is a big mirror. The chair is weird. Are you going to use that brush? Do I get to wear lipgloss? My sister tries to wear my lipgloss and she makes a big mess Is that the dress I'm going to wear? What shoes am I going to wear? Are they going to be tight? Those flowers are pretty. You have more make up than my mom. These shoes are just like Zoe's only bigger..."

So watch your Joann Stores' Halloween ads (both newspaper, mail and website). Morgan will be Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), a pink Snow Princess, and then just a cute pink and brown patterned mini dress (which was completely darling, so maybe I'll actually get that sewing machine out of its box!).