Best Mom Tip #10: Have a beer

I don't really like most beers. And since I am a nursing mom, I'm not drinking at all right now. But there's something about kicking back with an adult beverge every now and then that helps you savor the moment and enjoy being a grown up. This beer actually belongs to my husband and it wound up spilled on the carpet in our playroom, but more on that in a minute.

Lately I've been going to a lot of really loud, child-based activities that have left my mind a bit frazzled. There was the Christmas program, which had three highlights: my kid single-handedly holding up the hand motion responsibilities for her entire section; the kid who flapped his hands against his ears for the duration of the show; and the kid who performed with such gusto that I fear his high school career aptitude test is going to reveal the word "televangelist." I've also made cookies, gone to a preschool party, and made gingerbread houses. None of these things are relaxing to dear old mom.

So last night my husband and I relaxed a little. I had chocolate milk to his beer, but the attitude was the same. Things were going pretty well until I, not realizing that the near-full beer was sitting on the floor, knocked it over. My husband came back into the room to see me on all fours attempting to remove the beer from our carpet. I was feeling pretty annoyed that chill time had turned into yet another menial housework opportunity when my son started "talking" to me in his 4-month-old way.

I looked up, tired and frustrated, and asked him if he could please just go to sleep like a normal baby and let Mommy rest. And he laughed. A full-on belly laugh that was the first of his little life. If you've ever heard your baby laugh for the first time, you know what this does to your heart. Melting is not strong enough of a word.

I have never had a "beer night" that I enjoyed so much as the one where the carpet drank the beer and I heard my boy laugh. Maybe one day, when he's over 21 and mature enough to want to avoid getting drunk, my little guy and I will toast each other over a cold one and I'll tell him about his first beer night.