Momnesia

Momnesia [mom-nee-zhuh] noun:

- a loss of brain function due to lack of sleep, hormone changes, or anything else "mommy" related

Have you experienced momnesia? Here's my recent momnesia experiences:

* Michael came home from work, picked up Shaelyn and asked, "Have you changed her diaper recently?" Once the question was posed, I realized that I had not, in fact, changed it recently, and even further realized that it hadn't been changed in 8 hours!

* Shaelyn climbs into her car seat all by herself now. She has to climb in on "sister's side," so I put Rachelle in the car while she climbs into the car, across the seat, and up into her own seat. One day Shaelyn climbed in as usual. I closed the door on Rachelle's side of the car, went inside to get something, came back out, started up the car, and backed out of the garage. We were 5 minutes down the road before I looked in my rearview mirror and saw my toddler kneeling in her car seat sideways, hands on the door, looking out the window. I had completely forgotten to buckle her in!! I immediately pulled over and buckled her in, while she cried "Addie's house! Addie's house!" She thought we weren't going anymore, since I had to stop the car.

* We met up with some friends at Chick-fil-a for dinner and a playdate. The kids were busy playing in the play area, and I got distracted for a moment. When I zoned back in, I realized I didn't see Shaelyn anywhere. Since she's able to open the door that leads from the play area to the restaurant, I panicked, thinking she had escaped and who knew where she was now. Anxiety-stricken, I was barely able to squeak out "Where's Shaelyn? Have you seen Shaelyn?" to my friend, who quickly pointed and said "She's right here." Relief swept over me, and then panic again. I still couldn't see her. I looked in the direction my friend was pointing, but all I saw was a collection of kids, one of them petite and blonde. My daughter! I had completely forgotten what she was wearing that day and was looking for something else, and couldn't even recognize her when I did see her!

* A group of my friends gets together every Monday to walk around the lake in our neighborhood, then let the kids play on the playground. I have a new sit-and-stand double stroller now that I'm a mommy of 2. Monday morning, I get the kids loaded in the car to go meet our friends, then grab the stroller to put in the trunk. I get it all lined up, unlock the release, then start to "walk forward" to fold it up. Nothing happens. I try again. Nothing. I double check that the wheels are in the right position. I double check that I'm pushing the right release button. I walk forward again. Nothing. I keep trying for 10 minutes. Flustered, I finally decide I'm just going to put the stroller in the trunk unfolded, with the hatch door open. At this point, I realize I've only been unlocking the stroller, and that there's a separate release button to get the stroller to fold down. Once I remember this, it's 2 seconds and the stroller's in the car. But my poor girls were screaming during this whole ordeal as they waited impatiently in the car seats for Mommy to get her brain together, and my friends waited patiently at the lake for us to join them.

Now I'm afraid Momnesia is a permanent condition...