Aw, man last week was torture. I have never seen so many Facebook posts from my mom friends whining about the weather than I did last week. I was atop the list of whiners by the way. As a stay-at-home mom, everyday waking to the sound of the rain was akin to having to wake up to go to work some mornings back when I was a worker. It was like a death sentence. Dread and panic would sweep over me. I would utter the word, “Nooooooooooooo” and get out of bed. I know, I know, we need the water. But to top it all off was the fact that our beloved television of only two years decided it would be a good week to stop working all together. I had a heavy heart for sure. We were trapped prisoners in our own technologically challenged home. Yeah, maybe having only one working television could be a disaster at any time when it finally breaks. Sigh. It was time to suit up as a Mom and face the music; literally music saved me many times last week.

What is a mother to do? Just because the rain tried to keep us from getting out there we had no choice but to leave the house.  I managed to muster up as much courage as I could muster so we could escape. Each kid got bundled up and put into their rain jacket, rain boots, and shuffled off into the rain to drive to pre-school, grocery stores, and those fantastic indoor play sanctuaries like Jack & Jill’s on Western and Kindergym. Thank God for places like that in Petaluma. We could drive to Cotati to Pump it Up, which also saved me the other day, and Kid Spot in Sebastopol, but I’m grateful to not have to hop onto the highway mid-down pour of dogs and cats. The tan interiors of my van did not fair well last week by the way.

I have a friend who came up with some great rainy day activities for kids. We managed to do many of them in an attempt to keep sane and dry. Here are some of my favorites: build a pillow fort with blankets and pillows in the living room, create an obstacle course, make play-dough (edible & non-edible versions), have a dance party (exhausting when you are 31 weeks pregnant), get out the video recorder and make a movie for the grandparents (or record yourselves being silly and watch it back later), go to a museum (Bay Area Discovery Museum, Schulz Museum, etc.), bake with the kids (maybe this is best for the older ones), and do arts and crafts (got your Michael’s coupon?). So the list could go on and on and ultimately the one we went with the most was go ahead and get out, rain and all. I do have to say that although my kids have the proper rain attire, I was constantly getting wet because I did not have a waterproof jacket with a hood. Mom needs to take better care of herself and get me one of those some day.

All in all, I was proud of myself at the end of last week. I had managed to uphold my plan of not raising my voice, keeping calm, and having a good time with my girls. We managed to get a new television when the weekend came. Sad that we couldn’t hold out longer, but I need my reality TV, and Olivia needed Caillou!!!  Last week, I was thrust into parenting like never before and have felt a bit stronger in my disciplining as well as my tolerance of my little ones since. Prior to the rain, I had been lamenting to a friend about how discouraged I can get as a parent. I had gone out to eat with my mother and sister in Marin and we stared at the table next too us that had at least 5 children at it under the ages of 7. They all sat there well behaved. I swear they didn’t even utter a word. And then there we were, my mom, my sister, and me with my 19-month-old monkey child. After awhile, Georgia managed to chill out and we enjoyed our lunch, but I caught myself staring longingly at the other table wishing my eating experience didn’t include having to constantly keep my kid distracted so she wouldn’t disturb the other patrons. I’m learning that there is much work that needs to be done within me, not my child, in order to have a better outcome and to ultimately be a better parent. Who knew that all that rain could bring on so much insight?