Laying on the guilt...

I had to work for a few hours yesterday, so Papa came and picked RP up to spend the day with he and Nana. This worked out nicely because Papa and I were going to a NASCAR race last night, and RP and I, along with the puppies, were planning on spending the night at Nana and Papa's anyway. After work, I raced home to grab all our stuff (it is still AMAZING to me how much stuff I need to pack just to spend the night away from home anymore. I carried no less than three bags of stuff with me for one night, when two years ago I packed a roll-on pilot case which I carried on the plane, and that was for my class at Disney Institute, six days in Orlando, FL!). Anyhoo...

RP was still sleeping when I got there (taking her nap), and apparently had been a bit grumpy all morning long. This was no surprise since I had to wake her up in the morning to get going, and she was still exhausted from a fun day of playing outside the day before. She napped for almost three hours before I woke her up, and even then she had a hard time waking up, preferring to stay cuddled in my lap, eyes half closed and thumb in her mouth for almost a half hour, which for her is a new all-time record. Storms blew in and Papa and I were getting ready to leave, and when RP realized she wasn't coming to the races with us, she was clearly not happy, despite the fact that Nana had a fun evening planned for the two of them. Our discussion about staying home went something like this:

Me: "RP, remember that we talked about tonight - Papa and I are going to go to the racetrack to see the race cars. You are going to stay here and have fun with Nana!"

RP: "No Mommy, me go with you." (Hugs tighter)

Me: "No honey, only Papa and I are going to go. You can watch the beginning on TV and see if you can find Papa and I in the crowd - how 'bout that?!"

RP: "No Mommy, me go with you. I sit on your lap." (Add to this the big brown eyes looking up at me, pleading with me to let her go too - ugh, it's too much!)

Me: "Honey, I would love for you to come and sit on my lap, but we only have two tickets - one for Papa, and one for Mommy. I didn't think you'd want to go, so we didn't get you a ticket this time." (I forgot the cardinal rule - never EVER try to rationalize with a three-year old)

RP: "Mommy, me buy a ticket with me own money. Then me can go with you, otay?" (Add even BIGGER, more pleading brown eyes, and you have one big o'le mess of a Mommy!)

I held and rocked RP for a while longer until she was fully awake and suddenly became interested in running around and playing with her toys. I left with Papa about an hour later for the race, but felt like the Worst Mom in the World, for the second time in as many weeks. At least I can find comfort in the fact that she and Nana had a great "girls-night" last night and RP seemed to forget all about it this morning. She may have, but I haven't - point taken, RP. Point taken.