My "Mom" is Showing

I love being a mom.  But I also love and cherish some kid-free time to just do my own thing.  When I was in college,  I had the excuse of school work to give me a reason to head to a coffee shop or restaurant with WiFi to give me some form of my former self back.  Now that I finally graduated, I still need some evening relax breaks, so periodically I will retreat to one of these locations to write about being a mom--ironic, right?  It's fun to blend in with the hip, likely single or at very least child-free crowd.

Then I do something like use hand sanitizer to wipe off the table and the mom in me just shines right on through.  Or I ask the nice barista for extra napkins just in case "someone has a spill."  I am confident she thinks I have split-personalities disorder.  Whatever.  The truth is, I can't even make it through ordering without sounding like a hot mess mother, and my heathens are safely home with the mediocre daddy.  So, I get up to order, and choose a hot, mocha latte.  Easy peasy.  Until I realize that clearly the thing to drink when its 82 degrees outside is a blended coffee with a bajillion flavors and more whipped cream than a Cool-Whip factory.  Seriously, this place has to own stock in Reddi-Whip or something.  I also requested a coffee sleeve.  I don't think the cool kids request those.

I also absent mindedly told another patron to "be careful" when he picked up a mug.  Who even does that?  This was before I ordered the espresso, in my defense.  Thankfully, I am a fairly pleasant person and he was good humored as I profusely apologized (and explained that I have a toddler, so it literally just slips out ALL the time).  So, my disguise to be cool failed almost as epically as my son's Darth Vader costume, he wore the cape but refused the rest, and got offended if someone asked who he was on Halloween.

Basically, the moral of the story is that you can never fully leave motherhood at home, even if that's where the kids are.  And that's ok.  Who knows, I may have saved a barista some work just in case someone does have a spill, and possibly saved a mug's life today.  All the positive vibes, right?  But seriously.  You think I'm funny at the coffee shop, you should see me attempt a club.  That's a story for another time.  Being a writing mom totally has it's perks (see what I did there?).  I get to play hipster cool kid for a couple hours, all while trying provide my wonderful readers with some entertainment!  So, wherever you are out there, if you see me doing something weird and "mom" in public, just come discretely tell me my "mom" is showing.

*Disclaimer:  I purchased my drink from our local Starbucks franchise.  I did not receive the item in my hand for free, discounted, or in exchange for marketing or advertising purposes for Starbucks.  I just really needed some flippin coffee at night.*