Aaaaaaah! And Not Me Monday...

So much to post...and so behind! We had a computer disaster at the house this weekend. It's dead. Really dead. The computer geniuses assure us that our videos and photos are recoverable (for a fee, of course), but it left me a bit unconnected for the weekend. We're hopeful that they can fix the computer for us as opposed to buying a new one, but that remains to be seen. On a side note, with no computer access this weekend, I was struck by the amount of sit-down-and-rest time I found during the quiet times of the day. Chores got done faster, laundry got done more efficiently and I found myself actually relaxing for a while yesterday. Maybe the computer is more of a distraction than I give it credit for.

So...there will be multiple posts coming your way today if I can get things under control from a business perspective. I have gazillions of pictures (not joking) from our adventure on Friday with Emily and the kids to the Children's Discovery Workshop. I owe about 20 pictures to Emily with her adorable kids in them, and I'll get some good ones posted here as well. But first, in hopes that this might get buried underneath less embarrassing material, I'll share Not Me Monday with you. Just when I was thinking I'd have NOTHING to share, this one hit me like a brick wall. I'm not proud of myself, but in the vain of full disclosure, here we go...

I absolutely did not hear this coming from the backseat of our car on Saturday while driving out of the parking lot at Wal-Mart. "Mommy, I can't get this." (The "this" that my adorable, precious son was referring to was his car seat straps. He couldn't get them buckled. Because I DID NOT forget to do it.) What kind of a mother would do something like that? I'm sure glad it wasn't me because I couldn't live with myself if it had been. The "car seat Nazi".....forgetting something like that? Can you imagine? I mean, I am the kind of car seat freak who panics if the thing wiggles even a fraction of a millimeter at the belt path. Surely I couldn't have done a thing like this.

Let me explain......and, by the way, put down the phone. Do not call Children and Youth until I can tell you what happened. Joshua has taken a great interest in buckling his own straps, and I'm teaching him the importance of being safe in the car. He'll get himself buckled and then we'll talk about how those straps keep him safe and that he can never ever unbuckle himself. Only Mommy or Daddy can do that. So on Saturday, I let him work on it while I was unloading the cart into the back of the Highlander, with my eye on him the whole time. Then the blasted cell phone rang and Jason was telling me about our DEAD AS DOORNAILS computer, which made me forget to buckle our little buddy in. I didn't get very far- maybe 10 feet- before having a panic attack and stopping the car and running about like a madwoman. But good grief. Again, please don't think less of me. And please don't call the Child Services folks. I'm embarrassed to write it down, but know that you all are my friends, and we can all bask in the crazy things that do not happen to us each Monday while we write it down to share amongst ourselves. Really, you don't think I'm a bad Mom, do you?