Recalling Those Mom-nesia Moments

Hana in her red cheongsam. Photo from Tannya Joaquin

Do you know the feeling that you’re forgetting something?

I have it on a daily basis.

It goes something like this: I wake up, drag myself out of bed, make a quick cup of coffee. Then, I rack my brain for what I need to do to get my children ready for preschool.

There are days where they have to wear tennis shoes or special shirts, take something for sharing, turn in a project, bring a dish for a potluck party, wear sunblock – you get the point.

Every day is different, and for me that creates endless opportunities to mess up. It comes with the territory, unfortunately, of being a busy, disorganized working mom.

Try as I might to not be that mom, I am, more often than not.

The frustrating thing is, as many times as I think I’ve got it together, I’ve completely blown it.

Case in point: Chinese New Year. My daughter’s class was celebrating on a Friday, so leave it to me to wait until the day before to prepare. I set out on a mission to find a red dress for Hana in Chinatown. Lo and behold, there it was: a beautiful red cheongsam just her size. And they even have matching shoes in her size, and red ponytail holders. Perfect.

As I’m getting ready to pay, I have a hunch that I better buy something for my son, too, so he doesn’t feel left out. The clerk points me to a black-and-red outfit. Score.

So, I was feeling pretty good about myself the morning of the party. I already had bought the wontons I signed up to bring. Hana was decked out in her perfect party dress.

Then we arrive at school. We enter her classroom and that familiar feeling that something’s off hits like a ton of bricks. I see that every other classmate is dressed in T-shirts and shorts.

Wait, did I get the days wrong? Oh well, I reason to myself, I’d rather Hana be the only one dressed up than the only one who’s not.

You see, I actually encountered the flip side on another Friday

morning. I show up at school with Hana dressed in her Friday KCAA shirt and covered shoes for their usual outing. I completely forgot that it was Grandparents’ Day and children were supposed to wear multicultural outfits.

Yes, all of her classmates were wearing kimono or aloha attire or hanbok.

I laughed a little inside and ran home to get her traditional Korean hanbok dress. She was so excited when I returned with the “princess dress” she’d never worn before.

A fairy tale ending to one mom’s episode of mom-nesia.

tjoaquin@hawaiinewsnow.com