“Wait, what
do you mean a ‘B’ list?”
“You know,
if the main people you are inviting can’t come, then you have extra people on a
secondary list … people that you like, but not necessarily your
first choice.”
I was really
puzzled by this, because in my mind, everyone I wanted to invite was my “A”
list—there was no secondary list. In
fact, if pressed, the only people we didn’t really need at the wedding would be
the guests my fiancé wanted to invite. I
guess those were the “B” list people.
Not
surprisingly, my fiancé was not real pleased to hear about that.
“What do you
mean, ‘B’ list?”
Anyway, we
somehow worked it all out without an “A” or “B” list after all. We invited everyone we wanted, and did not
worry too much about who could not attend.
Fast forward
13 years and I find myself again in this conundrum with my own children. But instead of me deciding who is on the “B”
list, I learn that I am the one on the “B”
list. My kids have no desire to
spend time with good ol’ mom if there exists someone born between 2001 and 2008
within a half mile radius.
Gone are the
days when separation anxiety gripped my toddler like a tube of toothpaste being
squeezed down the middle. Goes are the
days when my preschooler Velcro-ed himself to my leg every morning at
drop-off. Gone are the days when my
kindergartner ran toward me with open arms after getting off the school bus, like
a commercial for a cheesy Lifetime movie about a custody battle.
I now fall
squarely in the category of “people you like, but not necessarily your first
choice.”
The other
day, I made the mistake of giving my sons the option of getting out of school
early to take me to the airport or they could go to a full day of school and
have a playdate with a neighbor friend.
Guess which one
they chose?
I, of course,
was devastated. I confided my situation
to The Husband later that evening.
“Sweetie, I
am not longer on the ‘A’ list,” I lamented.
He smiled
and said something he thought might be reassuring, “Oh, MOV, don’t worry … you
never were.”
MOV
