Waffle Cone Wednesday Supermom Style

Most Wednesdays, for the past couple years, the boys and I have made a fun after school tradition of going to TCBY (a frozen yogurt store in town) and partaking in Waffle Cone Wednesday.

On Wednesdays you get a waffle cone with frozen yogurt for only $1 (normally $4).

It's a pretty special time and the boys look forward to it and it's a nice reward for good behavior.

When they don't make the best decisions and are struggling to listen we don't get to go.

Probably I am just as sad as they are when we have to skip this tradition.

Usually Elijah picks whatever kind of ice cream Jonah likes and Isaac and I share. 

So last week, one of the most emotional weeks I have experienced in motherhood, we were on our way to TCBY for waffle cone wednesday.

That morning I had gone to the dentist, then to the doctor to discover that Elijah did probably have a broken bone in his foot, and was a wreck. 

After we picked Jonah up from school and Isaac from daycare we were driving towards our favorite wednesday spot and I was talking out loud about how we would tackle waffle cone wednesday with Olivia, Isaac, and Elijah who couldn't walk. 

I was talking through the different possible scenarios with the boys and reminding them that we could only do this if everyone worked together. 

I was trying to decide if it would be safest to bring Isaac in first and leave him with Jonah, then haul Elijah and Olivia in....or Elijah and Olivia in first and then Jonah could sit in the car with Jonah and then I could go back for the two of them. 

I started to feel overwhelmed again, for the kajillionth time that day and got a bit teary. 

I started to doubt if this was a good idea, I became a bit sweaty and nauseous thinking about the worst case scenario: Isaac would run all over the seating area while I was trying to get the ice cream behaving like a wild animal, Jonah and Elijah would fight in their normal soft extremely loud voices and erupt into tears, and Olivia would wait until everyone had their ice cream and start screaming bloody murder demanding to be fed that instant. 

I also wondered if I would ever feel confident about mothering 4 kiddos!

I was almost there and had to decide quickly if we were going to attempt waffle cone wednesday or head home hanging our heads in defeat.

When I heard Elijah say one of the sweetest things he has ever said.

(Now, I know most children say it like it is, but Elijah is especially honest and I am always a bit nervous of what will come out of his mouth for this reason).

Jonah was trying to tell me which plan he thought was best when Elijah interrupted him and said:

"Jonah, don't worry!  Mom totally has got this...you should have seen her this morning at the dentist.  She had me on her back, the diaper bag and carried Olivia in the carseat!"

"She was totally like superwoman. She even opened the door to the car and the dentist. It was amazing...you should have been there."

"This will be totally easy for her....just watch" 

My heart soared, my confidence became tenfold and I am pretty sure if we were in a movie they would have cut to a scene of me in a ridiculous spandex suit with a cape blowing behind me while I stood confidently with my hands on my hips ready to take on waffle cone wednesday with a vengeance!

I couldn't skip it now!

So we did it.  Jonah held Isaac's hand and they safely made it inside, then I headed back to the car for Elijah (on my back) and Olivia.  Elijah sat at the table with Olivia while Jonah helped me man handle Isaac while ordering our ice cream. 

Then the sweet lady working at TCBY (who happens to know us as frequent flyers) carried the ice cream to the table and even brought a cup and extra spoon for Isaac!

Then time stopped for a bit and I was able to enjoy my sweet three boys and beaming with pride that we were all having fun and not creating a scene!

Miss Olivia slept right through it contributing nicely to the smoothness of the trip.

Then I made multiple trips to the car carrying children and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving as we drove home for a memory that will stay with me for quite some time. 

Even though I didn't have a cape, or a ridiculous spandex suit (yikes), didn't possess any secret superhero traits, or save the world from any crazy villains, I was a Supermom in the eyes of my 5 year old....and that is a pretty big compliment in my book.