Today I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and head to the park with all three kids, SOLO. That's right, no help - no husband, no grandma, no aunties, no besties. I was a woman on a mission... the older two had been crabbing all day and the tiny one was only content when she was being cuddled.

So I packed them up and we went to lunch at the local pizza place in town, which happens to be owned by my parents. My mom was there as was my youngest sister working and the other sister who happens to be on maternity leave was also somewhere near by in town. I started to falter on my belief in the fact that I could take these children places without any help. I asked if either of my sisters wanted to tag along (in my head pleading one of them to say yes). Neither of them did. 

After lunch, which they actually both ate very well, I loaded them up (this time with the help of my youngest sister) and decided I was going to do it, I was going to the park regardless. I had already made a promise to my oldest daughter this is what we would be doing today. And believe me Sister does not forget. 

There is a new all inclusive playground/park in Osceola that is amazing! It's got something for any and everyone! It has musical toys, slides, swings, a carousel, it's astroturf, and to top it off it's fully fenced in! Those kids aren't escaping me! I played my cards right, I was the only mom crazy enough to bring her kids at lunch time!! Wooo hooo! I wasn't going to have to make awkward small talk with anyone and my kids would have the place to themselves to run and be fools. Yes!!!

My dreams were short lived. As I got closer to the gate I realized there is a mom sitting here with her two children. Damn it! But hey it's only one mom and honestly none of the other mom's usually say two words when I come solo anyways. It was ok I could do this! I opened the gate and let the older two run wild. I took my diaper bag and the carseat with my tiny baby in it over to a bench to watch the older two run and play. Soon enough I lost sight of them, always with the running out of my sight! I had to get up and truck all of my belongings and the baby up to a different spot. And this is when it happened... other mom stood up and decided to speak to me..... Ughhhh I was dreading this small talk. 

She stood up and of all things said, "I underestimated how wet the ground would be in the shade and now my butt is all wet!" In that very first sentence I thought to myself, Wow she is brave, I would have tried to hide and get out of this park as fast as possible! I felt a huge pull to her to quickly make her feel at ease and said something like, "Hey don't even worry about it!" I'm not sure the specifics of the rest of the interaction from there. But I do remember early on in our conversation when she said something like, "You're one of the first mom's to ever talk to me here at this park." I'm sure my mouth just dropped open with no words to combat her declaration. 

In that instance I had made up my mind, this woman is a superhero. Not only is she super brave for starting up a conversation with me and not being afraid to hide her wet butt but she also had twin girls the same age as my oldest daughter and she too was out doing the park SOLO. I had the BEST time talking to someone that I had just met. I don't know about you all, but I don't make friends the easiest. It takes a lot to break through my shell but she seemed to have some way about making me feel at ease and so relatable. 

We exchanged phone numbers and now here I am like a giddy high school girl hoping she'll text some day soon so we can do it all again. I guess the moral of this story is let's all realize we're all in this together and not judge one another's wet butt on the playground! Being a mom is hard I hope I don't continue to isolate myself and can continue on with this new found bravery of mine, fully instilled by this random woman at the park today. It was so uplifting and much needed, so if you're out there and happen to stumble upon this blog post - from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!