More kudos for Rachel

Last night there was a board meeting of the Oregon Area Jewish Committee, of which I'm a member. The organization promotes Jewish life and interfaith understanding throughout Oregon and I'm glad I'm able to be a part of it, although it has been a real hassle getting to board meetings without Drew as a backup.

I've skipped the 6 p.m. board meetings at our synagogue, but last night I decided to go, if only to announce to everyone that I'll be a more participatory member now that Drew will be back (as of Tuesday! Yay!). I planned very carefully for the meeting: Loaded Rachel's diaper bag with snacks and a bag of toys, picked her up from daycare early and was only 15 minutes late (Portland summer traffic, ugh).

Rachel was a real trooper. She played with her blocks, colored a bit, then helped herself to the dried cranberries and nuts that were provided as snacks (plus cookies; I was a bad mommy and let her have 3 small chocolate-chip ones, but it was better than her throwing a tantrum in public). I kept whispering to her that she had to be quiet while Mommy listened to the people talking and she followed those directions to a T -- even when she very politely asked me to take her to the bathroom twice (and she had a dry Pull-Up last night AND today).

At the end of the meeting, a guy named Bob came up to me and said, "Your daughter is adorable and VERY well-behaved. How old is she?"

"Two and a half," I said. "She'll be 3 in July."

"Well, I have a granddaughter about her age," Bob said, "and there is NO WAY she would have been able to sit still for this long. She'd be dancing on the table!" I thanked him profusely, of course.

On the way home, Rachel insisted on calling Drew and giving him an account of the evening. After she hung up, she told me proudly: "I was very quiet and very behaved." Yes, sweetie, you were! Thank you!