A Mommy Story

This morning was spent at the annual Columbus Parent Expo, gathering all the swag I could get my hands on. I’ll gladly grab all the pens, crayons, cheap frisbees, and other junk businesses throw my way. I don’t even care that it has their logo on it. Aaron was busy, so it was just Cordy and I. This year it was held at the Columbus Zoo, and we had a few new firsts for the small girl child:

– First experience with a harmonica. She couldn’t quite understand what to do with it. Blow into it, sweetie. No, don’t try to inhale it!

– First freak out over seeing a costumed character. They had a giant ‘Y’ there from the YMCA. Cordy took one look and screamed, as anyone would do with a giant ‘Y’ coming at them.

– First time I’ve been called a single parent. No joke. A church group was there, and a lady stopped me to hand me a packet, saying: We have a new support group for single parents starting soon! Uh, what? Just because my husband isn’t with me doesn’t mean I’m a single parent. I’m married, you twit.

– First time Cordy wasn’t mistaken for a boy in her red pirate coat. Someone actually had the presence of mind to notice she was wearing a girly outfit under her coat! Thinking before speaking – amazing! No worries, though, she was still thought to be a boy by many people.

– First truly confused moment. The expo had big speakers playing children’s music all day. When we arrived, “Hot Potato” by the Wiggles was blasting out of the speakers. Cordy was looking everywhere for the Wiggles! She didn’t understand that there was nowhere to watch them.

After the parent expo, I packed the kid back into the car for our next stop: the Ohio State University Medieval and Renaissance Festival. Aaron and his partner were performing there today, and I didn’t want to miss catching up with many of our friends that we only ever seem to see at these gatherings.

Once again, Cordy “enjoyed” more firsts:

– First refusal of french fries. She ate a few, but most of her lunch was cast aside for the sippy cup full of milk. This child never turns down french fries.

– First improvised leash. (Watch out, Kristen, I’m talking about leashes!) Cordelia was in fine form, trying to escape from us at every chance. So Aaron took his costume sash and turned it into an improvised harness for Cordy. (We were very close to the street, where cars driven by inattentive college students sped by.) It didn’t last long, though. Of course, after the leash was removed, she resumed her attempts to run into the street. At first, I thought: She’ll turn around before she gets to the street. This was followed by me sprinting for her, after she proved me wrong. (No need to call CPS – I caught her with 10 feet to go before she got to the curb.)

– First bloody nose. I missed seeing this one, but I saw the aftermath. Apparently Cordy fell on the sidewalk, and caught herself with her face. One nostril was a little bloody, and she scratched the outside of her nose and a small patch of her forehead. Leave it to Cordy to do her own stunts.

– First in-person proof that our kid is a moose compared to others her age. Exactly her age, to be precise. One of our friends was there with her daughter, who was born the same day as Cordy. At one point, the friend’s older son asked, So, they were born on the same day, but a year apart, right? Uh, no. Same day, same year. Oh, she’s just a LOT bigger! Yep, we’ve been feeding ours steroids with a side of growth hormone.

After a melt-down of epic proportion due to no significant nap, we went home, where I got to experience one more first before bed:

– First Eskimo kiss. Cordy was snuggling with me on the couch, and put her face very close to mine and rubbed noses with me. It was so. amazingly. cute.

Now she is in bed, and after such a long day, I had my own first. I had a glass of wine with dinner, followed by a big bowl of ice cream. I think this busy day deserved two indulgences instead of just one.