The first time I saw a cockroach at one of my fave kid-friendly restaurants in the West Village, I thought: No problem. What New York City restaurant doesn’t have a cockroach now and then?

So I kept eating there.

Then, one day at this very same establishment, I saw a mouse.

Now, this gave me some serious pause. Mice really skeeve me out. And the waiter didn’t even give us a mouse-in-the-house discount or a free dessert (one mouse = one molten lava chocolate cake) which kind of pissed me off. So I didn’t go back for months.

But they have very yummy mouse fish tacos.

Plus high chairs.

And lots of room at lunch time (although maybe the mouse situation has something to do with that).

And a great kid’s menu with more choices than the incredibly predictable chicken fingers and grilled cheese.

And I mentioned the fish tacos – right?

So finally… I returned.

And gosh damn it, I saw another cockroach in the women’s room. And then my husband (along with our shrieking daughter) saw another in the men’s room. I mean, how many live animals do you have to see at a restaurant before you call it quits?

For me: 3 cockroaches and 1 mouse. I’m done.

But I still think about the glory days at this place because I walk by it all the time on the way to my daughter’s preschool. Or should I say, I RUN by it on my way to preschool.

Am I the only one that is always running a few minutes late for school pick-up?

If I only could leave 5 tiny, little minutes earlier, I could casually stroll on over there. But instead, I’m pushing 15 month-old Summer in the stroller, like a crazy-fish-taco-deprived-mama-from-hell – desperately trying to get there for the 11:50 am pick-up.

When I’m about a block from the school, I can see this huge clock tower. The time on that clock momentarily determines my worth as a parent.

11:45 – I am an awesome mom! I just know I’ll be the first mom there. I wonder if they’ll elect me “Best Mom of the Day” when I get there. How could they not? They really should.

11:50 – Oh crap. I’m going to be a minute or so late. Totally mediocre mom but maybe Dylan won’t notice. Hi, I’m average mom.

11:55 – Worst mama on the planet. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt.

But then something came in the mail recently, that made me feel just a tinge better.

I just got a Christmas card from some family friends.

holiday-card.jpg

Postmarked March 24th. Yeah, that’s right. How bold is that?

These sweet folks are really really running late.

And now “5 minutes late” doesn’t seem so late at all.

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