MOTHER'S DAY INTERVEIW

Charlee was 4 when she gifted me one of my most treasured Mother's Day gifts ever. It was the sweetest interview with her teacher, where she had to answer questions about "mom". The "answers" were posted on the bulletin board with a hand drawn photo of mom. We, as moms, were to guess which particular one was ours...as described by our preschoolers. I spotted mine almost immediately. It went something like this:

What does your mom look like? She has blonde hair and she wears a clip in her hair. She has green eyes and is pretty. She never wears earrings beause they hurt her.

What does your mom like to do? She doesn't really like to do anything but cook sometimes and cut up donuts.

What does your mom say? She says, "Get in the car.", "Stop fighting" and "I love you very much." Every day at school she says "I guess I have to go now."

This very important document hangs inside the medicine cabinet so that everyday I can see it.

I smile every time I read it.

It makes me feel good.

So I was thrilled, yesterday afternoon, at the prospect of a one-on-one Mother's Day Interview...Charlee's assignment was to conduct an interview with me "sharing my thoughts" on 4 different subjects and send in a picture of the two of us.

Okay.

I'm thinking: what's my favorite color? red or green; what's my favorite smell? freshly bathed baby, coffee brewing and basil; favorite book? The Giving Tree...

See...I was all ready.

Then she shocked me with this:

I need to know what you think about education, world peace, pollution and nutrition.

What?!

You read it right: education, world peace, pollution and nutrition! (are you friggin kidding me?!)

Okay. Deep breath.

Here are my answers:

Education: While I do believe education is important, I also think that our kids spend way too much time in school. The school day should be shorter, allowing for more family time. The focus between schooling and family has become flip-flopped.

World Peace: I think world peace is unattainable. Individual beliefs and religions are too strong to find compromise in much of the world. Work on finding peace in your little world.

Pollution: It will kill us. Everyone needs to take individual responsibility to do what they can to help our environment. Just try to throw away as little as possible.

Nutrition: So, so important! Eat fruits and veggies whenever you can. Snack on nuts and enjoy pastries for dessert (but not too much). Meat, my dear Charlee, is a must (here and there) for strong muscles...which you'll need to help me along when I'm old and gray.

That's it. That's what I answered.

I think I screwed up. I think maybe I should have said that education is great, world peace is around the corner, pollution is bound to stop due to our knowledge, and following the food pyramid is the model you should follow for every square meal.

I think CPS may call. If they do, I will gift them the picture I sent in...the one of a happy Charlee and me...despite the fact that we were in my gas-guzzling Suburban, waiting in a 2 hour line to see Christmas lights, with the heat running full blast, having just finished a greasy Mexican dinner topped with a yummy margarita, where I yelled at the driver in front of me way too many times to claim peace.

And then I'll hang up...open my medicine cabinet...and see that crayon picture of me with a big triangle body and yellow hair...and I'll smile...because nobody with a big, red crayon smile like that could be all bad...right?!