A few years ago I saw a movie called One Fine Day with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. It was a cute little romantic comedy, but I remember in particular one scene where Pfeiffer's and Clooney's characters needed to drop their kids unexpectedly at a day care center (apparently you can do that in New York). When they arrived they discovered it was "Super Hero Day," and all of the other kids were wearing costumes. In a moment of sheer genius, Pfeiffer rumages through her Mommy Bag and duct-tapes together two super cute super hero outfits using foil and other odds and ends.
When I first saw that movie the costume scene didn't strike me as being too important. Now that I'm a Mommy, however, I want to rewatch the scene over and over and take notes. I never realized that Mommy-hood involved so many MacGyver moments.
My most recent Mommy MacGyver moment happened at the blueberry farm last week. The little guy and I were going to meet Teresa and her kiddos to do some end-of-the-season blueberry picking, and as it had been raining that afternoon I had to make a decision about shoes. I decided that I didn't want to contend with soggy tennis shoes, so Crocs for him and flops for me sounded like a good idea.
Apparently I forgot that we live in Florida. Blueberries grow in sand down here, and where there's sand, there are...fire ants. We had only picked from a few bushes before he started to whimper. I knew to move quickly so the little pests couldn't bite me, but my son is too little to understand that. He just stood there and let them nibble his feet.
Teresa and I tried to come up with a solution, but with no other shoes in the car and no socks anywhere we were at a loss. We both had diapers but we couldn't figure out how that would be helpful. Then, in a light bulb moment, we remembered the extra plastic grocery bags I had stashed in case we needed more for our berries. I marched the anguished toddler back to the car, pushed his feet into the bags, tied them like leg warmers, then put his Crocs back on over them. We had a good laugh about his plastic socks, and I was grateful that his friends are sweet and too young to start heckling him. But, you know what? It worked. The ants left him alone, and the bags were so secure they were even able to withstand the mud bath our boys had when they were "all done" with the berry picking.
Have you ever had to channel your inner MacGyver? Do tell!
10 comments:
This is so funny.....I bet he thought it was the coolest thing.
*Snicker* at the picture of MacGyver. That was such a great show, if a little dated.
I remember that scene in One Fine Day, and I think George Clooney's line after she dressed the 2 kids as super heroes is "Where can I get one of those bags" and I remember thinking "When I am a mom, I am totally going to have a bag like that!"
I also LOVED MacGyver! Great show!
I can only remember one MacGyver time for now: My son had pooped out his diaper- we talking major explosion- at a play date with my SIL. The onesie and the pants were goners! And I had no back up outfit and it was in the middle of winter! My SIL has a son who is 3 years older than mine. She found some sweat shorts with a tie waist. We tied the waist a tight as we could. The shorts were long enough to be pants on my little guy. His sweat shirt was still clean. We put his coat on and bundled him up in a blanket and I carried him out to the car. It wasn't pretty but, he was warm and clean!
Funny! I have had so many MacGyver moments and I can't think of any right now. Moments when I've thought to myself, "Man, I'm good!"
Nothing's coming to me at the moment, but I can totally relate to your post, Rachel. We moms just do what we have to do to make things work!
I remember that part of the scene now, Fawnda--that was funny!
Does it seem like most MacGyver moments involve clothing? I guess it goes with the territory!
Not my MacGyver moment but one of my mother's:
One cold Florida day my son, Timmy, was at my mothers while I was at college playing. Of course all little boys tend to ache for the magical world of "outside" and He was no exception. So he cried at the door and mom took him out. Well, if you know anything about my mother you know it could be 82 degrees out and she will suggest a jacket as you leave the house. She even has a pair of gloves and ear mittens in her van. Anywho, it was getting windy and bitter, but Timmy was enjoying himself. She had bundled him up by adding a layer if sweatpants and sweatshirt to his outfit, but I had not packed a "hat". Therefore, my mother went and got a pillowcase and 2 bobby pins. She pit the pillowcase over his ears like a gnomes hat and secured it with two bobby pins. I have a photo of this MacGyver moment in his growing up book or I would scan to post. Oddly enough he looked absolutely adorable as a wee gnome. Needless to say, I packed a hat even if it was 89 degrees! On a side note: packing "T" for his week at the LW Care Center work camp, mother comes in and says, "T, you may want to pack that white little jacket it may get cold.". I said to her, "Gma, it's like 90 out in the day and a jacket may give me a fever!". Sheesh!!!!!
Wow can u tell I am brain dead?!?
T was playing, I was at school learning.
It would give HIM a fever.
Any other errors, blame the iPhone!
Alicia, you did all of this on your iPhone? Sheesh! I can totally see Gma making T wear this get-up. I want to see that picture!
Sorry Alicia, I didn't even flinch when I saw you were at college "playing" ;) And, I second that--you did all of that on your I-Phone? "Sheesh" squared.
I would love to see the picture of the "wee gnome"--how cute!
My friend Kelly posted this on my FB, so I'm sure she won't mind me reposting it here:
"Reminds me of the time my mom wrapped my new red boots in Bunny Bread wrappers to keep my feet from getting soaked by melting snow while I was sledding. My friends did notice however as I was 7 years old and I did go by the name of Bunny Feet for several years afterwards."
Super Smart!
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