The Inconvenient Moment

My yearbook editor graduated today. I'm not afraid to say that she was one of my favorite students because I groomed her for four years to be the yearbook editor. She has been there with me all the way through and I have appreciated her more this year (when she was also my worker) than any other year. She has really been there for me. She loves my girls and teases my husband (in a student to teacher kind of way...). Andy told me that she wanted me at Parent Tributes. I knew that meant she was going to say something about me.

Now let me go on a seemingly unrelated rant. Each year it has been harder and harder to get to the events that happen at the school. The first year, it was just me and Andy and I totally made it to everything. Then I had Abby but she was little so I could still make it to most everything because she was just sleeping and eating and it was ok. Then she was not so little and not so sleepy and she wanted to run everywhere. It was harder to chase her around because I was pregnant again and chasing a moving target while obese is just CRAZY. Now I have one that is potty training and one that is needing to be fed and changed and it's just way nuts whenever we try and do a school event - such as graduation weekend parent tribute program.

My brother was there and he had Abby but then I had Cate and she needed to be fed and I knew (because tributes go in alphabetical order) that my yearbook editor was coming up. I had three choices: either take the squirmy Cate out to do the baby dance in the hall way while she snuffled and whined until I fed her and miss the tribute, OR sit in there while she made a ton of noise and annoyed everyone (this is a VERY quiet program), OR sit in there and put on my nursing apron and feed my kid while still able to listen to the tributes and pray to God that she didn't ask me to stand up. I chose the latter. I waited with baited breath, hoping that Cate would be done eating before my girl got up to say her tribute. Alas, she was not AND she asked me to stand... I almost didn't. Knowing how much it would hurt her feelings if I stayed sitting, I picked up Cate and stood IN MY APRON WHILE BREASTFEEDING! Yes, it was crazy and everyone laughed but my editor knew I was there and knew that I cared enough to risk humiliation to let her know that I was there FOR HER! DID YOU HEAR THAT, JOY?!!! You are my best girl!