The past week hasn’t been as bad as it could have been. We have managed to (mostly) move across the country…again. And this time, we had a small child in tow. We all made it to the snowy east coast with much of our sanity intact. Amazing.

I even managed to learn a little bit along the way. Another amazing feat.

As I was whittling down the contents of the fridge and coordinating packers and movers and inspections, I managed to be very ill-prepared to meet some of my daughters’ needs. I would go out of the house for a few hours WITHOUT ANYTHING FOR HER TO EAT. That’s actually how we boarded the first of two planes to take us across the country; sans snacks. Occasionally a little pang of guilt/worry would cause me to sweat for a moment and voice my concerns to my unconcerned husband. After a few futile conversations, I decided to reframe my “negligence” as a boon for my kiddo rather than a curse.

How does my being ill-prepared work out well for my little one? Welcome to my journey of justification.

I’m helping to paint a more realistic portrait of the world.

A world where crusts stay on bread! A world where when I say “That’s all there is,” that’s what I actually mean! A world where if you’re really hungry, you just have to eat what’s offered! Also, a world where In N Out Burger is the only dinner available! So that’s what we have (and we eat it with relish!).

It’s not imperative that I’m always an ill-prepared parent, but it’s nice to know that even in times when I am, it’s probably not going to hurt my kid. It might actually be a little test in resilience and patience for the both of us.