chink in the armor

i have been "super-perfect-mom" to the 2 little girls for the past 3 and 4 years. but recently, i have started to find chinks in my "super-perfect-mom" armor. i always go into each daughter's room after the daddy has done the ritualistic tuck-in. they each like to "chat" about their day, or what's "after this night", or a book, or a buddy, or whatever. the other night, as i leaned in to then give wren her good night smooch, she says to me: "your breath smells gross, momma"...and then waved her hand in front of her nose. i told her that i had just eaten a burger and that is what my breath smells like. she told me that she thinks "that burger mustta tasted gross!". okay, first time she's ever complained about my breath. maybe it was just the first time i have actually HAD bad breath around my almost 4.5-yr-old daughter? yee-ee-aaaa-hhhh, that's what it is. no chink there...because "super-perfect-mom" always has minty-fresh breath, right?! then the other evening i informed wren that the daddy & i enrolled her in preschool...she said that she was super excited to go and then when her little sister said that she wanted to go, too, wren(very sweetly, really) told her that it was just for very big girls like herself but that linnea might get to do really fun things with momma while wren is in school...fun things like run errands and clean. oh, my. again, no chink there, because doesn't "super-perfect-mom" never have to do those mundane things like that so she can always just take the kids to the park, or zoo, or museum, or swimming at the ymca, or...or...or...? schew, dodged that one, too, eh?!

so, slowly wren is beginning to see me not so much as "super-perfect-mom", but as "pretty-good-human-mom". sigh. that one IS easier to live up to, just not quite as fun.