The Stinky Cheese Man

Last Friday I had an experience that made me want to start blogging on the spot, just to have a place to capture those moments that you know will be forgotten if not recorded. I even intended on that experience (the aforementioned "puppet story") to be my first post until I realized I should have an introduction post first. But yay, now I get to tell my story!

Weeks ago, Aidan gave me a hand-written invitation to attend a puppet show in his classroom. It was adorable and formal, "requesting my presence" at a series of puppet shows his class had written. I said that I would try to be there and made a mental note to attend.

As I'm sure you can guess, the puppet show never made it to my calendar. When Aidan asked me on Friday morning if I would be there I actually thought, If you had sent me an Outlook invite instead of a hand-written card, I would have remembered. I had a 9:00 meeting, a 10:00 meeting, and a 12:00 meeting. The puppet show was at 11:00. I looked Aidan square in the eye and said the mantra of every working mom: I will try.

You bet I will

As my 9:00 meeting commenced, I started doing mental calculations. If my 10:00 meeting ends right at 11:00, I can drive to Aidan's school and get there by 11:15. If I leave by 11:45, I should still be at my meeting by noon. Darn, why didn't I ask when Aidan's part in the play was? If he's first, I'll drive down for no reason. Same if the play goes until noon and he goes on last. Even if I miss his part, at least he'll know I tried. This thought process proceeded for two hours.

As the clock struck 11:00 and my 10:00 am meeting drew to a close, I leapt out my chair and dashed to my car. I drove like a mad woman to Aidan's school, snatched a visitor's pass from the office, and slipped into Aidan's class where the puppet show was in full swing. I had to slide past Aidan's teacher who whispered to me, "Aidan already went. We can have him do his part again afterwards." Knowing that I could not stick around afterwards,  I sat down with the other parents and tears sprang to my eyes. I missed it. I was the bad parent. I was the mom who chose work over being there for the important moment. I felt like a complete and total failure.

At that moment Aidan looked over at me with the biggest smile and said, "Don't worry, mom. My bigger part is still coming up." Sure enough in ten minutes he narrated an entire puppet show called "The Stinky Cheese Man" and I got to see the whole thing. As I left, I gave him a wave and he gave me a thumbs up and mouthed I love you.

Room 130's production of The Stinky Cheese Man with Aidan's blond hair visible on the right.

It doesn't always work out so perfectly. There are times I have missed the class party or the book fair. I don't get to chair committees at school though I do my part to volunteer. I pick Aidan up at 5:30 from Discovery Club instead of 3:30 from class. Being a working mom is a series of compromises, but you know who never makes me feel bad about that? Aidan.

He thinks I'm a great mom. To him, it doesn't matter if I don't buy organic or spearhead his school's latest fundraising efforts. He thinks I'm the greatest mom in the world.

Aidan's depiction of me and Robert along with our best qualities

The biggest irony of the day for me was that my 12:00 meeting was a lecture titled "Do Babies Matter?" The lecture was about how choosing to have a family severely affects a woman's ability to secure tenure and rise to the top of her field. Will it for me? Maybe. Would I do anything differently? Not on your life.