My scruffy kids and their mom

It became apparent by early afternoon yesterday that the kids and I all needed some out of the house time. We dropped what we were doing (nothing), loaded up, and headed to the mall.

My kids love the mall. They think the escalators and elevators are lots of fun. They also love to play on the little coin-op machines and our mall has a small play area for young children. They always have a blast. After a few rides on the escalator we headed to the play area.

There was one other family there. I was immediately struck by their immaculate appearance. The family consisted of mom, dad, and four girls whose ages I guessed to be between one and seven. And the mom was pregnant. Each of the girls were wearing super cute clothes, and their hair, despite the fact that they had been running around the playground, was perfectly done up. I couldn't help but compare these girls to my own little scruffians.

Ariel was wearing her fav: a bright green shirt, red skirt, black and white striped leggings, and silver ballet slippers. Racer was wearing sweat pants, a plain white undershirt, and blue and green socks. Rue's clothing, although I had picked her outfit, had visible stains on it. None of my kids hair had been done for the day.

I wondered if the girls in this other family ever got to pick their own clothes. I wondered if they ever fought their mom while she created those perfect hair dos. I told myself that my kids could look like that, I simply allow them more freedom to express themselves.

Then I became aware of my own appearance. . .

No makeup, unattended hair leftover from earlier shower, nonmatching socks, and clothes that did match. . . until I threw on a ragged sweater over top.

All the sudden I realized something. Those girls looked like their mom and my kids looked like me. My kids are simply a product of myself. Poor kids.

But. . . we had lots of fun. Maybe even more fun than the other family. :)

By the way, (just a random comment) at dinner that night Rue smeared ketchup all over her head. That was pretty fun too.