Motherhood Readiness

About one year and two months ago, I devised a plan that I considered to be fool proof, to assess my readiness level for raising children. My thought: if I can keep a plant alive for one year, surely I'm ready to have a baby. Right? Right. So I went to Walmart and bought a small house plant that required minimal water and lighting. I named her Jessica, and proceeded to love her and care for her as I would my own child (or plant). She didn't really grow much, but she didn't die either. I felt our life together was going well. I even took the pains to replant her into a bigger pot with better soil when she was about 9 months old--such was my love for her.

Well, two weeks before her first birthday, tragedy befell us. I was in the process of moving across town, and had all the last odds and ends loaded up in my car ready to move out of my old place for good. Jessica was sitting in the back seat, buckled up of course. Well, it was a particularly hot day in August, and the lady who was supposed to come and check the apartment to make sure it was clean didn't show up. After an hour of waiting I gave up and took the last car load to my new apartment. Sadly, this is what I found where my lush, green Jessica used to be:

Yes, her leaves had been badly scorched by the unforgiving sun. All I could think was, "Thank goodness she wasn't really a baby." Lesson learned- never leave your children in the car. Especially in August. I still have her in my apartment, and I don't think she's dead...just burnt a little bit...

I guess I'm not ready to have a baby, which is a good thing to be aware of I think.