#1 Mom

Jessa's school has a Secret Santa Shop each year. It is sponsored by the PTO, so I have been sort of involved the past 2 years. And it reminds me of the same kind of thing that we had at Mt. Zion Elementary several years ago when Lucas and I were there. They even used some of the same bags that we used! Crazy the things that you remember, right?

Well, the Shop is a little bit fundraiser and a little bit, "hey, kids, you can buy gifts for your family for cheap!" There were no gifts that cost more than $10.50. So you could do some serious shopping if you were so inclined. As you might have guessed, Jessa and Spencer were so inclined. There is a pretty big selection of stuff to choose from. Since I was working behind the scenes, I knew what all the merchandise would be. OK, OK, fine. I admit it, I dropped a few hints. There were some things that I was not crazy about, so I tried to steer them away from said items.

So I was tickled when Christmas morning rolled around, and I found that Jessa had actually listened to me. I unwrapped this sweet little pink bracelet with a lovely sentiment.

Yep, it says #1 Mom. What mother could possibly argue with that, right?

So I immediately put it on, and I have been wearing it lots since Christmas. And boy does she notice, too. She checks pretty often to see if I am wearing it.

Well, a week or two after Christmas, I was fussing at her about something. And she was giving me a really hard time. She has been almost a teenager lately with her little attitude. She is so advanced. Yeah, I know, we are so proud.

At this particular moment, I had just about had enough. I cannot even remember what the issue was, and I really cannot remember exactly what either of us said. I feel pretty safe in saying that whatever I was being "the meanest mom ever" about was "ruining her life," though.

She was looking at me with daggers,
and then, she glanced at my wrist.

I saw her eyes flash as she thought of a great idea.
She knew just what to do.
She folded her arms.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
And she looked straight at me and said, "Mom. Do you want me to take that back?"
I tried not to smile or laugh and asked with a very straight face, "Take what back, Jessa? What are you talking about?"
She motioned toward my wrist that was decorated quite nicely with my new pink bracelet.
I said, "Well, if you think you need to."
This was not the answer she was hoping for.
She huffed out of the room and within about 6 minutes, she liked me again. She may have even thought I deserved the title so boldly written on my new pink bracelet again.

I cannot imagine what she thought would happen. Like if I was faced with the threat of having my Christmas present reclaimed that I would change my tune and stop being so mean and totally unreasonable about allowing her to play in the snow in her bathing suit or whatever super great idea she was trying to sell to me.

Oh, Jessa!

The teenage years are going to be so much fun, don't you think?!