And the Oscar Goes To.........

I am inundated every day with a chorus of “Mom, watch this!” and “Mom, look at me!”  When I finally turn my precious attention away from whatever it is that I am doing (most of the time after the third or fourth plea, each one growing a little louder, a little whinier, a little harder to ignore) nine times out of ten their urgency is unwarranted.  Just today, a conversation with my husband was rudely interrupted by Tyler who just had to show me how he filled his mouth up with water from the sprinkler outside and spit it on the lawn.  “Wowwww” I said, "That’s cooool!”  Seconds later the conversation was interrupted yet again by Madelyn who wanted to show me how she could take a giant step over a wayward sandbox shovel in the middle of the yard.  “Good job!” I said, pulling from one of the 7 canned responses I use repeatedly throughout the day that also include, “That’s great! Nice work! You’re so silly! and “Oh my gosh” (not to be confused with “Oh my God” which is a no-no in our house).  Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of moments when their excitement is justified and my response is not Academy Award worthy—like the time when Madelyn wanted to show me her first somersault or when Tyler had finally put a difficult puzzle together all by himself.  But this entry is about the hundreds of other times throughout my LONG days at home with the kids where I am forced to act excited, surprised, amazed, and fascinated after a “Mom, WAAATCH!” interruption.  By 4 PM my one-liners have been replaced by mere sounds like “Mmmmm” and if I can summon the strength I’ll even go for the two syllable “Mmmmm Hmmmm”.  If I’m still standing by 8 PM I abandon sound responses entirely and resort to facial expressions with no words.  There’s the raised eyebrows look and the giggle with simultaneous head nod.  And then my personal favorite, the open mouth surprise.  While I may not be earning any Mother of the Year Awards, I’m keeping my fingers crossed there’s a spot saved for me in Hollywood!