“I can’t believe it’s almost 6:30,” I sighed as I pulled into our garage from work and mad dash to the supermarket.  I still needed to cook, do some laundry, not to mention prepare for the next day. Since my husband and four year-old daughter were not yet home from work and school, my game plan was to quickly prepare a soft taco dinner with a little help from Old El Paso.  That was if I could get my three month-old son to cooperate. 

Well, there’s nothing cooperative about a colicky baby.  My husband and daughter arrived within 15 minutes and I had not even turned on the oven. By the time we chatted about our day and everyone was settled in, it was almost 7:30.

Soothing my son and trying not to burn the ground chuck, I happened to look on the counter and discover that someone had accompanied my daughter home--her preschool class stuffed monkey.  Lola was making her rounds to each child’s home to spend the night, and her “adventures” were to be recorded in her journal. 
I panicked.  With a little more than an hour before my daughter’s bedtime, what adventures could we have? I opened the journal for some ideas.  Bad idea.  In her most recent adventures with Lucy (name changed to protect the innocent), Lola went to the zoo and rode on a carousel.  As if that wasn’t enough, Lucy’s stay-at-home mom also documented these and other wonderful adventures with pictures to boot.  I felt bad that I did not have the time to do something similar for my daughter. I felt guilt for being a working mother. 

But I quickly recognized the guilt for what it was—nonsense. Comparing myself to Lucy’s mom was unwise, especially without knowing anything about her life.  Both of us are doing what is best for our families.  The simple yet powerful truth is that I can only do what I can do.  What I could do was help my daughter find some adventures in our home.  She and Lola played dress up, went for a tricycle ride, read books, and had a blast.  My daughter didn’t care about what Lola did with Lucy.  She was just happy to have Lola spend the night. What a valuable lesson on contentment from a stuffed monkey.