I sat and watched my girls jump waves for what seemed like an eternity today. The joy in their face was contagious.

I watched them marvel as a dolphin came yards from the shore. Climbing in and out of the water way closer than a dolphin should be. A gift for my girl who had just fallen in love with Dolphin Tale.

I watched them spend an hour digging a giant hole in the sand and squeal with delight as they realized they had dug so deep they had reached water again.

I watched my son realize that he could scare (some rather aggressive) seagulls away by growling at them. And becoming quite pleased with his newfound skills.

I watched my son discover the feeling of sand between his toes (not his first time, but he must have forgotten). I watched his mind try and decide if he liked it. The jury is still out.

I think it is going to be a good vacation……

Becoming a mom is like a constant exercise in un-coolness. I used to think of myself as a fairly cool person. I mean relatively. But it is REALLY hard to feel cool while cruising down the road in a mini van (although I rock my swagger wagon) with Veggie Tales blaring with my perpetual uniform of yoga pants on.

There are many things throughout my day that remind me I am not cool. Mainly my 8 year old. But the one that is a constant reminder is Foursquare.

This probably makes little sense. I mean isn’t the fact that I am ON Foursquare a clear indication that I am, in fact, cool? Plus I have earned the super user badge!!

But then there are my mayorships. For those of you who don’t understand or use Foursquare, you can earn mayorships to places you check in a lot. You have to have the most check ins at a place in the last 60 days. For some places that might take a LOT of check ins (like my gym). For others it might not take many at all if not many people are checking in.

I am currently mayor at 5 places. I would like to wow you with the hip places I frequent. The first is a business that hires people to taste test food. Sounds slightly cool, but you should know that I am taste testing baby food. With Silas. Is it cool to get paid to eat food? Yes. Is it cool to get paid to eat pureed meat? Not so much.

Next we have the play area at the local mall. Where all the cool moms hang out. Or the moms that get their nails done at the place across the way from the play area while their kids run freely. I wish I was kidding.

Next we have church. Except it isn’t my church. It is the church where my daughter goes every other Wednesday night for a girl’s group. So she is cool. I am just the chauffer. A super cool chauffer with a minivan….

Finally we have a store that sells locally produced meat, cheese and dairy. That is super cool. Local is the new black. I have never seen another sole in the store when I have been there though so maybe it isn’t as cool as I think. And then my hair salon. Surely a hair salon is cool. So I am 1 for 5.

We won’t talk about the fact that I recently lost the mayorship to my dentist and pediatrician. Or that I was kind of bummed out about it. And I am only a few check-ins away from becoming mayor at my carwash. So there is that…….

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine this week where she was lamenting the fact she had left her cell phone at home and she wasn’t going to be able to return home for several hours. We talked about how she wouldn’t be able to get a hold of people and people wouldn’t be able to get a hold of her. Should she go out of her way to go all the way home and get it?

I commiserated with her. When I don’t have my cell phone with my it feels like I am missing a limb. And then we laughed a bit and said, my goodness, what on earth did we do ten years ago (okay maybe more like 15 or 20).

Let’s go back 20 years (gulp). Okay more like 18 years. I was heading off to college which was a 2 1/2 hour drive from home. My parents had a fancy new fangled cell phone they sent with me for emergencies. It was a “bag phone” that was in a bag bigger than the purse I currently carry. It only made calls and didn’t even do that well.

Today I have a smartphone. Sure it calls although that is probably the least of what I use it for. It texts, surfs the web, “checks in” to the places I go, acts as a coupon for purchases, is a camera and a video camera, and tells me how to get where I am going. It even makes my toast. Ok so it doesn’t make toast. But soon it might.

So you can see why today’s busy moms need their phones. Cause not only does it do all that for us, but any mom who has been in a waiting room with an antsy toddler knows their smart phone is a LIFESAVER. And from what I hear they can save many a grown up as well (Angry Birds or Words With Friends anyone?)

Clearly mama needs her phone. I read last week that in our lifetime our computers might be implanted in contacts. Can you even imagine? We are raising a generation that has never known life without being connected. I wonder what our kids will have to stay connected when they are moms. The brain can’t even comprehend!!!

Do you have a smartphone? Can you live without it? What are your favorite “mommy apps”?

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by US Cellular via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of U.S. Cellular®