When The Cat's Away...

Big Daddy is unquestionably the fun parent. I admit this with no small amount of chagrin. I wish he was the Discipline Daddy so that I could be Mommy Funcakes more often. But someone's got to keep order around here, and I've decided to take one for the team.

But since China is 18 million miles away, with Mr.FunGuy enclosed somewhere in the middle of it, I've had to take over both roles. And guess what? Being Mommy Funcakes is kind of, well, fun.

For lunch today we had a tea party. There were chicken nuggets for the appetizer (I haven't completely abandoned my motherly instincts. And yes, somehow I do count those as "nutricious food.") For the entre, there was Swiss Miss, the kind with the tiny marshmallows built in. I carefully scooped those out ahead of time and put them in the sugar bowl. Then I filled the teapot with mildly warm hot chocolate. And in the cream pitcher I put some very hot milk. On the side of each saucer were M&M's. Then the kids and I sat down and feasted. "One lump or two?" I would ask. They didn't know what I was talking about, so they just dug into the marshmallow sugar bowl with their tiny, pink plastic spoons. "Cream?" I would enquire. And they would both nod vigorously as I poured the hot milk into their tea cups. After we all finished two cups of "tea," we helped a frog and a lion and a rabbit who had joined us for the party finish their hot chocolate and M&M's. (Frog and Lion are not very good eaters, and Rabbit doesn't care much for chocolate.)

For dessert, there were homemade cupcakes. This was an unplanned addition to my day. I got the idea to make cupcakes when I woke up at 6:45am to Daphne's face, six inches from mine, asking me, "Mommy, can we make cake now?" I'm not sure how she got that bee in her bonnet. Especially prior to sunrise. But I agreed that at some point in the day we could make cake. So we made a cupcake mix (did you know they have cupcake mix? It's just like cake mix, but smaller and more expensive. It makes about 10 cupcakes, not 12 like the box says. And that's just perfect for us, 'cause what would 1 mom and 2 toddlers do with 48 cupcakes??? Oh you KNOW we would eat them all. Hence the $2 cupcake mix.) As it is, I ate half the batch. I blame it on the frosting. Perfect frosting, I have to admit. Unfortunately, I made it up as I went along, so I'll never be able to replicate it. All I know is that it had a LOT of butter in it. And butter always tastes good.

All in all, I've enjoyed my performance as Mommy Funcakes. But I'm a little worried that all this lack of discipline may have produced some unexpected side effects. A few minutes ago, I heard Daphne telling Frog and Rabbit about all the other fun things she had planned for us today, things that Strict Mommy and Laundry Mommy and Sweeping the Floor Mommy (and, well, Blogging Mommy) would never do... "And then we'll play Candyland. And then we'll do Motorboat. And then we'll take a bath. And then we'll play dress up...." I think all this fun has gone to her head. I might have to lay Mommy Funcakes to rest pretty soon.

But...maybe not until China gives Mr.FunGuy back.