The 90 Dollar Doughnut

Daniel (4) sitting; Matthew (6) center
Andrew (3) right

How does a doughnut cost $90.00? Well... it doesn't. However, the events that led up to the FREE doughnut were very costly indeed.

It began like any other day. There was the typical struggle to get the boys out of bed... teeth brushed... breakfast eaten... dressed and ready.... yadda, yadda, yadda... mad dash for the minivan. I always cross my fingers and hope to get Daniel to preschool on time. Yesterday was no different. Except this time Andrew and I never really did get dressed. We were running late and I just thought "I could totally get away with wearing my jammies to drop Daniel at preschool. I mean... it's a drive-up and drop-off... what could possibly go wrong?" In fact, I was so sure the drop-off would be quick, I even let Andrew get into the car with no shoes. By the way, Andrew's jammies were shorts and it was a sunny, 35 degree morning.

Let me just pause for a second to allow for the gigantic cyber-sigh happening about now.

So, "What could possibly go wrong?" I dared to ask myself.

Here goes:
We got to Daniel's preschool in the nick of time. And I mean, right at 9:00 on the nose. Any later and I would have had to get out of the car and personally take him into the school. "So far so good", I thought. But just as we approached the drop zone I suddenly realized this one minor detail I had forgotten.

"OH NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" I gasped, as I recalled that it was "Munchies for Moms" day. Daniel's class had been working hard for weeks preparing for this very special party to honor all the moms. They even sent out hand made invitations. Matthew's class did this last year, so I knew it was a big, giant, flippin deal! "AAAUUUGGGHHHHH it starts in FIFTEEN MINUTES!!!" (and we live exactly 16 minutes away!)

At that point I saw the insurmountable situation and I was completely defeated. I explained to Daniel that "Mommy is soooo sorry but I won't be able to come to the party today." Daniel was crushed. Though he handled his disappointment well, I could tell he was heartbroken. As he got out of the van...... I died just a little. I was breaking my son's heart and accepting the agony of defeat without even giving it a good try.

"SIGH... okay... I am a mom... I can make this happen... I really can", I thought. "I got this!" It was an impossible situation, but I jumped into tap-dancing-mommy-mode and got moving. So here's how it went down.

We drove really quick to Wal-Mart just around the corner. Andrew and I, still in our jammies, ran for the door. "We have THIRTEEN minutes", I yelled to Andrew. I was a crazy woman running through the store in search of something... ANYTHING... for Andrew and I to wear for this all important mommy party. I was too focused on the mission to realize I was actually one of those "Wal-Mart Shoppers" who was most likely being photographed for the next volume of the seriously revolting (and slightly entertaining) email photo album that will inevitably be circulated throughout the entire globe! (look for me next time you see that email).

I'll spare you the humiliating details of my early-morning jammie-shop and just cut to the end. (Though I would love to see the security video of the loony woman with the half naked 3-yr-old in her cart, frantically running through the store in all her jammie glory). We got an outfit, shoes AND socks for Andrew and something for me to wear as well. Wait... I got two extremely classy Wal-Mart outfits just in case the first one did not fit. Andrew and I were out the door and changing clothes in the minivan in under 15 minutes. All the while I yelled "hurry Andrew... quickly.. We are late for Daniel's party".

So we got back to the school at 9:25 am. I ran my fingers through my hair and put on some lipstick and we made our way into the school. Andrew and I arrived at the mommy event only 10 minutes late and I was extremely proud!!!

As we entered the party room I quickly scanned the "crowd" in search of my son. I could hardly wait to see the look on his face when he realized his mother had come after all. I made a mental note to begin writing my "Mother of the Year" acceptance speech!

"Wait..." I thought, "where is everybody?!?!?" The room was empty!!!
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Yeh... the party didn't start until 10:15
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we were 50 minutes early!
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Sigh....

I did finally get one bite of seriously expensive doughnut before Andrew procured that little treat for himself. But on the bright side, I AM the owner of two very lovely, designer sweat-suits from Wal-Mart. Wait.... I can totally return one! So then, this doughnut really only cost me $60.00.

In case you were wondering.... I'm still crazy! :o)