Mommy's Moment: Picnic Time

I like to create memories for the kids.

You know, those times they'll look back on when they're older and say, "hey, remember when...yeah, that was a lot of fun."

The problem is, those memorable moments always look like a "Kodak Moment" in my mind and yet fail to translate so picture perfectly in real life.

Why should I be surprised?

One thing I like to do with the kids is have indoor picnics. We make a special meal, spread a blanket out in the den, and watch a movie.

What could be disasterous about that?

A LOT.

That is, when a 13 month old child jumps in.

And not to mention a rental from the Blockbuster kiosk that disappoints.

John was hunting overnight.

The kids and I were on our way to Publix to snag a $1 movie rental. First disappointment. I'd been building up watching Cars 2 for the day. They were pumped.

Until, Cars 2 was not available. Strike one.


Trying not to miss a beat, I exclaim with an overly enthusiastic tone that they have other great movies to rent.

Like Rio (soon to be strike two).

Back at the hacienda...

All was moving quite well. The kids were preparing the picnic blanket. I was making french fries, heating up some nuggets, with a warm fuzzy feeling inside about our fun night head.

The movie was playing in the background. It looked cute. The kids were being drawn in...

Until...

it froze...well for a second...then we'd get a snippet of action before it froze again. Repeat this sequence for about five minutes. It was as though we were on a rollercoaster that couldn't quite get going. Stop. Go. Stop. Go. Until you feel like you have whip lash. 


Dead set on making this work, I restarted the movie after blowing in the DVD player and wiping down the DVD. Thanks to Hollywood, we were forced to watch all the previews again. Ask me anything about the Yogi Bear movie. I'll deliver.

As soon as we returned to the movie, I discovered my efforts proved fruitless. We were back in the awkward jerking pattern. Yet, I was still relentless.

We started it again. and possibly again. While the kids were perfectly fine, my blood was boiling.

To add to these memorable moments, my head strong Kate refused to sit in her booster seat to eat. What did I do? Well like any good, disciplined, focused mom...I allowed her out. And what ensued was icing on the cake. As she meandered around the den with french fries and nuggets in hand she managed to leave trails of half eaten food. When she gummed all her food and left it mercilessly on the carpet, she then proceeded to pilfer from her siblings causing what could have become World War 3.

So, there we sit, watching Rio in half second snippets while Hannah and Grant hover over their food like it was their last meal as Kate totters about leaving a trail of wet, smashed nuggets and fries as though they were part of an egg hunt.

Again, a reminder that in motherhood, it's best to go into every situation with no expectations...especially if that expectation is a Kodak Moment.