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Sundays are a time for reflection and giving thanks.

It's also the day I tell myself I'm not going to be "That Mom" next week. Since that never seems to work out for me, here is a list of 13 things I did last week that prove I am "That Mom."

What's with 13 you ask? Well, it seems like everyone does a list using the number 10 (top 10). I also figured that 20 would make me seem like a real nut job, so I settled on my lucky number 13. So here it is in no particular order, the 13 things I did LAST WEEK that prove that I am "That Mom."

1. Paid the kids delinquent lunch account online while sitting on the toilet at the gym.

2. LIED about why the kids' drawings and work from school ended up in the garbage. "I'm not sure how those ended up in there. The babysitter must have done it."

3. While shopping at Target, Hanna and I acted like Cooper didn't belong to us. At one point during his wild behavior, I told him quite loudly, "I can't wait to take you back to your mom and dad's house."

4. Skipped entire paragraphs in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban thinking they wouldn't notice. Let's be honest. How many of you skip entire pages at bedtime because you are just so dang tired?

5. Getting dressed at the gym, I realized I packed Hanna's underwear instead of my own. Not such a great feeling when you also have jeans packed for the day. To wear or not to wear?

6. Forgot to fill out picture forms on picture day. Went to the kids' school that morning to get extras and when I got the stink eye that is only reserved for "That Mom," I told the parent volunteer that the kids never brought them home.

7. Ate all the frosting around the outside of a cake and told the kids it fell on the floor and rubbed off.

8. Blamed Cooper for my body's hideous release of gas that resulted from too much Safeway China Express. Desperate times = desperate measures. We were in a small waiting room.

9. Recycled the same lunch three days in a row and swore to Hanna that the sandwich was freshly made.

10. While searching on top of my dresser for their socks, BOTH kids found their baby teeth that the tooth fairy must have forgotten to take with her. In a desperate attempt to avoid a major traumatic event, I said that the teeth belonged to our dead cat and that I just couldn't get rid of them.

11. Decided to try the old wives' tale that says rubbing copious amounts of Preparation H on your stomach will get rid of stretch marks from childbirth. Seemed like a good idea until Hanna decided to read the label and asked, "Mom, what does it mean when they say relieves the pain and itching from bowel movements?"

12. Getting out of the shower, Cooper said, "Mom, look at these things I can spin. I'm going to call them the spinners" (testicles). I proceeded to tell him, "If you continue to spin them, they will be gone when you wake up."

13. Despite all of my mishaps and not-so-great behavior, my kids still love me. I'm one lucky mom!

So there you have it - my list of 13. Looks like I better reconsider putting in for the "Mother of the Year" award.

- Sara Lindberg

Sara Lindberg is a full-time school counselor with two kids, ages 5 and 7. Her background includes a B.S. in exercise science and a M.Ed. in counseling. She has never considered herself a writer, just a woman with a lot of random thoughts in her head and access to a computer.