when mom duty calls
top | jeans | sneakers | earrings (same but in blue)| bag
About a month ago, a PR company reached out to me about a really fantastic opportunity to have my hair done by Tippi Shorter, a celebrity hair stylist. Tippi does hair for the likes of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys...you get the drift. The PR company was choosing a select few Houston bloggers and journalists to have a one on one consult with Tippi, and they were so kind to work back and forth with me for weeks to find a time that would accommodate my schedule. Tippi was only available one afternoon, and it's hard for me to plan things during the week with a little Bear Man at home. Anyway, we finally got it worked out and last Tuesday, I was to meet with Tippi at POSH Salon at 1:15pm.
I got up early that morning, excited for the day and ready to get my unruly head of hair fixed up real nice. I woke Bear up for Mother's Day Out, dropped him off, and drove 45 minutes down into Houston to meet my friend Dawn for brunch before my appointment. We had the most delicious pizza at Taverna and chatted about all things blogging before walking over to take outfit photos for each other (the pictures you see above- thanks, Dawn!). My phone rang several different times but I didn't recognize the number and since I got the new iPhone 7, I hadn't yet set up voicemail. I stupidly said, "If it's important, they'll leave a message" not realizing that the person calling wouldn't be able to leave one without a set-up voicemail. I hopped in the car at 12:50pm when my Mom called, telling me that Bear's school had been trying to reach me; he was throwing up everywhere and I needed to go get him. Immediately.
There had been no signs of my baby being sick- he'd seemed perfectly fine that morning. I was minutes away from my appointment with Tippi- one that had been carefully planned out for a month. I didn't feel sorry for myself, I knew my mop would survive whether Tippi spruced it up or not. I felt terrible for the PR company that worked so hard to fit me in and most importantly, my little boy who was sick at school. I called and cancelled my appointment (talk about literal last minute) and drove the 45 minutes back up I-45 to pick up Bear. He threw up 5 more times that day, so we stayed home in jammies and watched lots of Disney Junior. The virus lasted a few days but thankfully he's back to his happy, healthy, constantly hungry little self.
I learned something important about motherhood that day: no matter how big the plans may be, when your baby needs you, there is nothing that will keep you from them. I really wanted to meet a celebrity hair stylist and have her work some magic on my mane. I hated having to call the sweet PR lady and cancel minutes before my appointment. I knew this could effect future work collaborations with the company in a negative way. But you know what? My job as Mommy always comes first. When mom duty calls (or the agitated MDO director who can't get your voicemail), you drop everything for your child. There is no better, more important calling. Even if your hair, and sanity, suffers a little in the process.
xo, Britt