But this weekend has seen me unprepared and floundering not once, not twice, but three glorious bouts of "Why did I get myself into this situation!?"
The first was a common scenario in my kitchen. I am halfway through a recipe before I realize I don't have enough of a key ingredient. Well, lets just say I now know that my healthy chocolate muffins can be delicious even without full quantities of flax seed (oops), cocoa powder (doh!), and orange juice (for pete's sake!). I scrounged up substitutes and by the end was just flinging stuff in since they were so far from the recipe, why not? Thank G-d, it's apparently a forgiving recipe!
Next was this morning while dressing my children in their Purim costumes for the local carnival. Yes it's a week before Purim, but I was PREPARED! My mother had bought the kids costumes from the after-Halloween sales. See where I learn my preparedness? I didn't have to worry about looking for costumes, scrounging up bits and bobs. Until this morning when I realized RE had grown in the past 4mos and couldn't squeeze into his costume no matter how much squishing, praying, or cajoling I tried. Great. A well stocked dress up chest came to the rescue and he was more than happy with the results. The small costume will be donated to a smaller friend.
Then I grab my "costume." I don't really dress up for modesty reasons. I could go on a tangent about this, but I'm posting about my incompetence, something even modesty can't save me from. I had been saving a vintage jacket my mom handed down for just such an occasion. It's flashy enough for Purim without screaming "look at me I'm dressed up as a character." I tried it on, and it fit. Phew! Except . . . . that it was missing 2 buttons, in high profile places. So while my children were waiting in their coats & shoes (no small accomplishment as other mothers know), removed the remaining buttons and sewed all new buttons down the blasted beautiful thing.
Obviously my wailing "How did I get myself into this?" is easily answered with "By not preparing, duh!" but how much more prepared can I afford to be? Considering it's a week before Purim, a little unpreparedness now means we're already set for next week barring any unforseen accidents, emergencies, or mixups. Of course being the mother of preschoolers is all about the accidents, emergencies and mixups, so being able to tuck and roll or MacGuyver my way out is the answer. And I do love me some MacGuyver!
So I've generally learned from the fable of the grasshopper and the ant. I pack lunches the night before. I make lists AND check them twice. I have contingency plans coming out of my wazoo, plus plans for what to do in case of catastrophic wazoo failure, cuz you never know!
But this weekend has seen me unprepared and floundering not once, not twice, but three glorious bouts of "Why did I get myself into this situation!?"
The first was a common scenario in my kitchen. I am halfway through a recipe before I realize I don't have enough of a key ingredient. Well, lets just say I now know that my healthy chocolate muffins can be delicious even without full quantities of flax seed (oops), cocoa powder (doh!), and orange juice (for pete's sake!). I scrounged up substitutes and by the end was just flinging stuff in since they were so far from the recipe, why not? Thank G-d, it's apparently a forgiving recipe!
Next was this morning while dressing my children in their Purim costumes for the local carnival. Yes it's a week before Purim, but I was PREPARED! My mother had bought the kids costumes from the after-Halloween sales. See where I learn my preparedness? I didn't have to worry about looking for costumes, scrounging up bits and bobs. Until this morning when I realized RE had grown in the past 4mos and couldn't squeeze into his costume no matter how much squishing, praying, or cajoling I tried. Great. A well stocked dress up chest came to the rescue and he was more than happy with the results. The small costume will be donated to a smaller friend.
Then I grab my "costume." I don't really dress up for modesty reasons. I could go on a tangent about this, but I'm posting about my incompetence, something even modesty can't save me from. I had been saving a vintage jacket my mom handed down for just such an occasion. It's flashy enough for Purim without screaming "look at me I'm dressed up as a character." I tried it on, and it fit. Phew! Except . . . . that it was missing 2 buttons, in high profile places. So while my children were waiting in their coats & shoes (no small accomplishment as other mothers know), removed the remaining buttons and sewed all new buttons down the blasted beautiful thing.
Obviously my wailing "How did I get myself into this?" is easily answered with "By not preparing, duh!" but how much more prepared can I afford to be? Considering it's a week before Purim, a little unpreparedness now means we're already set for next week barring any unforseen accidents, emergencies, or mixups. Of course being the mother of preschoolers is all about the accidents, emergencies and mixups, so being able to tuck and roll or MacGuyver my way out is the answer. And I do love me some MacGuyver!
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