Not Me! Monday

It's been a hard couple of weeks as I vaguely mentioned in my previous post. My dear ones could still use all of the prayers you can send their way... guidance, healing, hope and peace would all be great blessings for them. I've been finding that in the midst of broken hearts, taking time to be frivolous is good for the soul. And so, it's time for MckMama's "Not Me" Monday blog carnival again!

Beyond the heavy stuff, what have we not been up to this week in the Kumquat Garden?

For one, I most certainly did not participate in any sort of man-cave-making Babyland 3.0 designing (a Kumquat needs a ginormous TV and surround sound, no?) activities for hours on end... with a hungry, tired, cranky baby trapped in her stroller. I also did not attempt to bribe appease soothe her by stuffing her full of snacks and playing numerous episodes of The Backyardigans for her on my iPhone. And while I was in the midst of our hours at Ultimate Electronics, I also did not completely forget about a meeting I was supposed to attend that evening. And once I did remember, I certainly did not engage in any sort of passive-aggressive, laying-the-blame-solely-on-my-husband-and-telling-him-I'd-be-kicked-out-of-my-moms' group-behavior. That would just be childish. And unhealthy. And, well... It doesn't matter because I certainly did not do any such thing.

I, a mama who truly considers herself not to be a big TV watcher, did NOT have to institute a "No TV During Dinner" policy... for my 11-month-old baby. (I also did not just feel a little bit sick when I wrote that. Good thing I didn't do it.) I also did not feel like the Worst Parent Ever when said baby had a complete and utter meltdown when DKG turned off the TV. Thank heaven I'd never be that kind of parent!

I also did not take my firstborn child to her very first Halloween party ever and bring the camera, but not the memory card.

And today, I did not drag my husband and child to a playground I love that just happens to be in... well, not the best part of town. I also did not continually reassure DKG that the park was perfectly safe during the entire drive there... even after we saw a homeless-looking man hanging around near the park entrance. I also did not continue with our plan to let the Baby Kumquat play at the park even after we pulled into the parking lot, saw 1 car, but no other people, & then realized there was a guy sleeping in the car. I did not say to DKG, "Well, at least we'll have the playground all to ourselves & Baby K won't have to worry about getting run over by bigger kids." I also did not suggest that we post a video of K swinging in the park on Facebook so that, should anything happen, the lovely folks investigating our abduction would be able to look at the video and have an idea of where we were at that precise time. (Did I mention that I really don't watch much TV? Just checking.) I also did not hightail it out of the park when we were startled by a homeless-looking man sleeping at the top of the slide!