Aw, Mom . . .

It's a mother's job to humiliate her children--you know the drill:

1)The ol' spitting on a Kleenex and wiping their faces in public trick

2)Doing the Chicken Dance to the radio while driving the carpool

3)Making your kid stop and eat a banana in the middle of an equestrian competition (hey--potassium, heatstroke?)

4)Dressing up as Wonder Woman for the preschool SuperHero party

5)Writing mushy/funny notes on their sack lunch napkins

6)Theme party, after theme party, after theme party . . .

And all those embarrassing photo requests of course. Camera-happy Mom and camera shy kids. "Give me a break, Ma"--and they thought my moving to Texas would accomplish that. Like I don't have a new digital Nikon and . . . Southwest reward miles! Can you say cheese?

So here's a couple of coerced photos from our recent trip to California--my favorite being the grocery store snapshot, where I completely mortified my girls by whipping out my camera and asking the Produce Woman to capture the moment! Made perfect sense to me; it's not every day I get to go Mom and Daughter grocery shopping. It was great fun, and a perfect day. Hubby and I had planned to take them all out to dinner, but the kids suggested cooking a meal together so we could all "hang out" longer . . . and it was (as the commercial says): Priceless. Fresh tomato and basil bruschetta, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, chocolate champagne cake--and lots of laughter and hugs!

We had a fabulous visit, and are now back in Texas. And tomorrow I'll be back to work, finishing the last few pages of The Healer's Heart. Speaking of that--when I saw my son, I realized for the first time that he looks a LOT like the hero in this new book, Dr. Logan Caldwell. Dark curls, blue eyes, wide shoulders, great smile . . . I guess it shouldn't surprise me since my firstborn IS the hero type. Of course, I told him that. Which apparently is as embarrassing as . . . Chicken Dancing in the carpool.

A mother's work is never done!