Dear Mom at Mod Pizza

Dear Random Mom at Mod Pizza,

It was a brutal week. I quit parenting at least 1000 times. My kids wouldn't let me quit though and kept badgering me to keep working and loving them harder.

We saw you on Wednesday night after a harrowing time at the swimming pool. My girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE swim class and I think it is fun too but man, the locker room experience afterwards just wears me out. I'm going to lose my voice soon from all the yelling I do in there.

I called my husband and asked him to meet us at Mod Pizza. It's a good place to take kids for dinner. They can get their own pizza which really reduces the arguments over what toppings to get. We settled in to eat our food when you and your son sat down next to us. You quickly apologized for your son's cough and made sure we knew it was from asthma. I offered my sympathy and you said you had spent the previous night in the ER. Oh boy, I knew that experience intimately. We swapped stories of the ER and shook our heads at each other in exhaustion.

Your son decided to try to leave and as you tried to calmly ask him to sit back down, I heard the exhaustion in your voice. I heard the extreme tired radiate out of you. Then your son did what all parents fear. He puked. He barfed all over the floor.

I felt for you then. I really felt for you on Thursday night when this happened to me. You held it together though. I liked your spark. I liked how you muttered to yourself but took great care of your son. I hope your night got better once you got home. I hope you got a few moments of rest.

I just want you to know that we're all in this together through puke, yelling and laughter. It's hard, this parenting thing but knowing that we're all on this crazy ride together helps. Some days that is the only thing that helps.