Co-Momming

My BFF Hollie and I share everything......we are PTO chums, YMCA partners, and co-Moms. No, not in the weird, lots of wives to one jerk, kind of way.............but in a this is what it would be like to clone yourself way. She has two kids, a 4th grade girl and a 1st grade boy. Two days a week, I pick up all 5 kids and two days a week she picks up the 4 older kids (Emma is always with me....THIS year) It gives each of us an extra 30 minutes twice a week to get that last load of laundry folded or run to one more store. Every day but Wednesday, we go from the school straight to the YMCA, get homework done, check the kids into the Kid Center and work out. On Wednesdays, the kids get out an hour earlier, so we head to the local park with about 6 other Moms from the school. Any Wednesday, there are about 25-30 kids on this small playground, and generally speaking, everyone knows everyone else's kids..............(joy oh joy, more co-Moms!) Today, I had the 5 of them at the park while Hollie was setting up the monthly staff luncheon at the school. If you are a Mom of multiple kids, you know the drill......chit-chat and count 1-2-3-4-5, chit-chat and count 1-2-3-4-5, chit-chat and count 1-2-3-4......................missing one, missing one, missing one...............I think it actually takes a minute to process which one you are missing. Today, it was Emma, the 4 (and a half) year old. Have you been here??? First you think, she's behind something you can't see around, so you start shifting yourself around. Then you start walking a little faster and looking at each child to make sure she hasn't changed clothing with someone else..........who knows what 4 year old Divas come up with! Then the other Moms start to hone in on your mounting panic...........Who're we looking for?? Then you start polling the brothers, the friends, have you seen Emma, where's Emma, help me look for Emma. Ian, my oldest, says, very nonchalantly I might add, "Emma, oh she's in the bathroom" Immediately, I think he's been eating spoiled strawberries because no way would Emma go BY HERSELF to the bathroom on the OTHER side of the park BY HERSELF with all of these STRANGERS around. You know, the bathrooms that open on the OPPOSITE side of the building, where the doors face the ROAD and the BIKE TRAIL where ANYONE can drive, walk, or bikenap a small 4 year old from!! But, she also was obviously no where on the playground, so maybe he was on to something. I put one of the other Moms onto my four older ones and practically ran to the bathrooms. Sure enough, in stall number one, I see familiar pink pom-pom boots. By the time we left the bathroom, she was sobbing, I was fuming, and all of the kids wanted to know what had happened. Nothing pulls kids over to you like a little bit of drama at the playground. To her credit, she did lock the stall door, which is something new for her.......so, the next time you see me, if my hair is a little greyer, you'll know why!