MOM-ents: Being the "Cool" Parent

This summer has been nothing less than spectacular as far as I am concerned.  I have taken the kids to do all sorts of fun things to get them out of the house and waste the day away while Matt has been at work.  I am the fun parent for sure.  Just ask me.  However, I wonder why Matt gets all the credit?

Matthew and Ryann’s first word was “dada” and even now that Matthew can say “mama” it takes a lot of bribing, excitement, tricks, etc. to actually convince him to say it.  Meanwhile, “dada” is his go-to word and I can often hear him just saying it over and over to himself over the baby monitor.  It’s like he can’t get enough of his dad.  I mean, I have only sustained his life for the first year (including 10 months of pregnancy), changed a large portion of diapers, and created and fed to him the majority of his meals. 

With just a few weeks remaining of summer vacation, I have been spending some time with Ryann getting her ready to attend preschool at St. Paul’s in the fall.  Among the things we have been doing are hard-core potty training (which she has been pretty successful at), doing activities in a preschool workbook, and talking about appropriate school behavior (raising her hand, waiting her turn, sharing, etc.).  One of the games we play is where I pretend I am the teacher asking the class questions and she has to raise her hand, wait to be called on, and then give her answer.

So the other night the question I asked was “who here has a really cool daddy?” and, of course, she raised her hand.  I called on her and she said she had a cool daddy, and when I asked why her daddy was cool she responded along these lines.

“My daddy is cool because sometimes he takes me to breakfast and I go to McDonald’s and get pancakes and sausage.  He does cool tricks (she wasn’t specific, but I would like to see one of these so-called “tricks”).  Also, he took me to Daddy-Daughter Date Night (in February) and we danced and got a flower and went to Applebee’s.”

Of course, Matt was standing right there and smiling at her answer.  So I decided to ask the next question, “who here has a really cool mommy?” and (of course) she raised her hand again.

My chest puffed out as I waited for her to explain how cool I was since in the past few weeks ALONE I have taken her to Funtastic, Jungle Java, Calder’s Dairy, My Urban Toddler, the zoo (both Detroit and Toledo), , , , the beach, shopping, out for ice cream, etc.  I had a smile on my face aimed at Matt so I could give him the “in your face, Applebee's boy” look.

Unfortunately, her response to the “cool mommy” prompt went like this.

“My mommy is cool because sometimes my earring falls out and she puts it back in.”

Ouch.  So I guess when it comes to being the cool parent, less is more-not that Matt isn’t an awesome dad, but come on, let’s give credit where credit is due.  I guess this week I will be taking the kids to lunch at Applebee’s.  I think I will let them get dessert for lunch. 

Beat that Matt.