Great kid, bad Mommy

So, this was Drew's 2nd week of the $#!@ weekend shift. Bless his heart, he departed at 6 a.m. on very little sleep, and the time change led me to sleep until 8:15 (yay!) and Rachel even later (around 8:30). We had a 9:30 a.m. playdate at Tessa's house and got there at 10. (Good thing Tessa's mommy and daddy, Helen and Patrick, live so close!). Helen graciously told me to go and run errands if I needed to, but I scoffed at that idea and said part of the great thing about playdates is to have grownup conversation. Which we all did for about three hours. It was great, especially the part about not having to constantly supervise the girls; they only needed a little attention now and then. I can't emphasize enough how meaningful it is that I'm able to have grownup time while my daughter hangs out with members of her Preschool Posse. I can already see her and Tessa giggling and trying on makeup and doing each others' hair while Helen and I chat downstairs over tea. Or, more likely -- I'll just drop Rachel off and run those errands!

We got done at 1:30, I made a bread delivery for a client (two more loaves over two months and I will have finished my bread obligation, which is part of a charity auction at Temple Beth Israel at which I donated 6 loaves of bread for 6 months) and, darn it, Rachel fell asleep in the car. Which meant that when we got home around 3 I was desperate for her to take a nap while I finished my biz school homework (and maybe catch some shut-eye myself) but instead she wanted to play hide-and-go seek. We did one round before I was hungry for a snack. Rachel ate some goldfish while I made myself some cheese, bread and dates, and when we were done she decided she wanted to go upstairs and paint. So I cleaned up the kitchen, emptied the dish drainer and hunted for some sheets to lay on the white carpet. Good thing I did because Rachel dripped some watercolor paint on the sheet by accident (all of our paints are supposedly soluble, but at least two have left permanent stains in the carpet. Which is why I refuse to re-carpet the attic until Rachel's out of the house!).

I offered to bring my computer upstairs (I was determined to get a start on my homework) and Rachel asked to watch the pony movie after whining that she didn't have anything to do (and I expressed my irritation over such a remark because, as I told her, she has a zillion toys and there is a TON of stuff to do, just not with Mommy) and...I was Bad Mommy....I let her watch the pony movie AND Hello Kitty for almost two hours while I frantically tried to finish up my homework (and, after a while, I just dozed off because I was so tired). I gave up at 5:30, made some whipped cream and we raced over to my friend Miriam's house. She and three of her friends were there, so it was a real Girl's Night Out. As usual Rachel was fabulously well-behaved; she tried some fizzy apple drink and liked it (it was Martinelli's, I believe) and luckily I had brought along some quesadillas she had eaten at dinner last night, so she had something to eat while the rest of us dined on salmon, salad and and some African dish that my friend Deni had concoted. Really fantastic meal). AND...the best thing of all!...the gluten-free cake I'd made last night and convinced I had completely messed up was FABULOUS. Oh, my, it was delicious; everyone asked me for the recipe, Rachel loved it, there's some left for Drew and I concluded that, after mastering yeast and a bain marie in one year, I am a total culinary rock star.

Except when I park my kid in front of the TV when I need to get work done. Then I'm a really Bad Mommy and should be spanked.