How To Be A Mom

Carry Provisions
I keep a couple of Trader Joe’s fruit leather bars in my bag, for food emergencies. They’re pretty indestructible, unlike cereal bars (which turn into crumbs when banged around under the wallet and keys) or fresh fruit (which tends get dinged and leaky instantly), and they’re less likely to end up all over the car (like Cheerios or raisins).

Carry Tools
A carabiner is a godsend. When the child sheds a layer and expects you to carry it, you clip the offending garment to your belt-loop and progress. It’s also good for binding a mess of shopping bags together so you don’t keep dropping absolutely everything.

Carry Supplies
Yeah, the kid wipes her nose on her sleeve more often than not, but if I want to go after her dirty face with mother spit, I’d rather use a tissue. And for those times when she has to pee by the side of the road? Enough said.

Carry Distraction
Tucked in a Ziploc bag we’ve got a handful of crayons, a small notepad, and some Dover stencils. Waiting for dinner at a restaurant? Draw a picture.

Carry Entertainment
I love to listen to music in the car – love to put the (six) CD player on shuffle and be surprised at every turn. The child tends to want to listen to the same song over and over and over. So, make sure that one or two tracks of the sixty are things that she’ll like and that I find bearable, or even wonderful. Let’s put it this way: I love that she likes Springsteen’s Girls in Their Summer Clothes and k.d. lang’s rendition of Hallelujah.

Carry Tools that double as Entertainment
It’s always nice to have a flashlight handy – you never know when the power’s going to go out. But it can be great entertainment for a child too. I’ve got a penlight tucked into my bag, particularly fascinating because it makes green light.

Carry the Glow Necklace at All Times
Well, maybe that’s too idiosyncratic for a general “How to be a Mom” rule – but it’s on my list. Several months ago, she made me a “glow necklace” at school – “it’ll take away your bad dreams, Mommy”. It’s not even a necklace, it’s just a string of beads. It doesn’t glow. But it lives in my bag, and I run it through my fingers like a rosary, and think of the little girl who melts my heart every single day.

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