Saturday's Are Mine!

Last weekend as I got ready to head out for my weekend ritual of going to the Movies with Mom - and sometimes other friends - my oldest daughter looked at me and said, "Why don't you ever spend the day with us on Saturday's?"

"Because I spend the day with mom on Saturday's." I tell her while trying to stamp out the guilt that comment was trying to cause. "I am with you every day during the week and we're all together on Sunday's too. Saturday's are mine." I add, hoping that will appease her.

"I know" she says in her most dramatic, guilt laden tone "but that's not a Saturday"

I'm not sure the relevance of why she feels it would be different to spend the day together on Saturday as apposed to Sunday but can I just tell you how much of a punch in the gut that statement was for me?? even as I continued on my way out the door to go see our Saturday movie...

Okay, now I realize that, at this point, it's not sounding like I'm going to win any sort of Mom of the Year award but, before you start throwing your rotten fruit at me, please keep in mind that she didn't earn her nickname of the "Drama Queen" for no reason.

Little did she know... a Saturday spent together was already in the cards for us, coming up the very next weekend.

This past Saturday was the annual 5K walk for JDRF. I was nominated as the cheerleader team captain for my department at work and, as such, I felt a responsibility to also attend.

It was for a great cause and there was going to be fun and games for the kids, add that together with good music, free food and beautiful weather - not to mention the cute work husband who nominated you, with his pretty blue eyes, and who would also be attending said function - and there really wasn't any good excuse why we shouldn't go...

First stop was to the food court for some breakfast type food before beginning our day of fun.

Afterwards, we headed over to the face painting area where my little stinker proceeded to tell them exactly what she wanted, just as she had informed me the night before when she came into my room and said, "I'm going to get a flower on this hand - pointing to her left hand, and a butterfly on this hand - pointing to her right, and a car right here - pointing to her cheek"

Have I mentioned that she is very strong willed??

They had a grand time playing in and on all of the inflatables!

The one that seemed to be the stinkers favorite was the one where you climb up a huge ladder, only to reach the top, bounce a couple of times, and slide down a giant slide - although, there was a time when I thought I was going to have to climb inside the whales mouth to retrieve them before they finally slid back out his 'other end' - but for the most part, the gigantic slide was her favorite. She would climb up that ladder, slide down that slide and run right back in line to do it all over again.

After hours of sliding, jumping, climbing and bouncing it was time for lunch. She didn't want to stop to eat but, after much talking and a promise that she could go back and play again once she had eaten a little something, I somehow managed to convince her that she was indeed hungry.

While they went back to the inflatables, one last time before we headed back home, I stayed in our company tent to see if any of our raffle tickets might be called. He called one of our numbers and up to the table I went, where I quickly chose the Disney Princess kick ball that I had been eying.

On the way out of the park, we played a quick game of kick the ball and chase it around. OH how they LOVED that!!

We would have played longer but momma's not as young - or in shape - as she used to be and her lungs quickly reminded her of that little fact.

As we headed towards our car, the drama queen kept kicking the ball and the little stinker decided to throw a bit of a fit, because DQ had HER ball and she couldn't catch up to her.

Others were watching this melt down with interest, curious to see how the momma was going to handle this little situation before it got too out of hand. But all the momma did was focus on her breathing, as she kept on walking towards the safety of her car, while struggling to catch her breath, lest she embarrass herself by passing out in the middle of the field, right in front of her work husband, who had probably - unknown to her - witnessed the short game of kick ball she played with her children.

They drove home, happy after their Saturday spent together, and the mother went to her room where she collapsed on her bed and took a much needed nap.

And THAT, my friends, is why I spend Saturday's at the Movies with Mom.