Mother's Day...

…is sort of a funny card holiday.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love being a mom.  But this year I have been thinking about what Mother’s Day has become, and I don’t really like it.  I keep hearing mothers talking about how all they want is to sleep in, take a bath without someone knocking on the door, and have someone wait on them hand and foot.  So, let me get this straight.  What we really want is a day on which to not be a mother?

Now, I’ll be honest.  As many of you know, I have taken an occasional “Mommy Vacation” (OK…  I’ve taken two of them), and you know what?  I love that time away.  I love the opportunity to focus on myself and get refreshed for another long season of being a mom.  I am not, in any way, making light of the legitimate need that moms have to take care of themselves and catch an occasional break.  I get it.  But even when I am away from the kids (which isn’t often), I call every day to talk for a few minutes.  I think about them nearly constantly.  Once you’re a mom, you really can’t ever go back to not being a mom, even for a day.  And that’s OK.  That’s great!  Isn’t that what we wanted?

My perspective might be a little different than some.  Believe me, I know what it is to sit in a church service on Mother’s Day and to cry because you’re not a mother.  I legitimately question the addition of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and Independence Day to the church calendar.  But whatever.  It’s the culture in which we live.  However, I know there are an awful lot of ladies out there today who would give just about anything to have a diaper that needs changing or a screaming kid pounding on the bathroom door.  If you’re fortunate enough to be a mom, today, don’t forget that!  You are celebrating Mother’s Day because of the children who are coloring on your living room walls and causing you to go prematurely gray.  Without them, today would be sort of sad.  

And one more thing…  I will never quite understand the moms who complain that they can never go to the bathroom without a child in the room.  Uh…  lock the door.  I can’t promise that the children will not stand at the door and talk to you the entire time.  But you can maintain some sense of privacy.

Truth told, I did sleep in today.  I was going to get up when I heard Miah yelling for me in the baby monitor at 6:54 this morning (she gets up at this time like clockwork), but I felt Phil roll out of bed and suddenly remembered that it was Mother’s Day.  I am supposed to sleep in on Mother’s Day, because if I don’t my kids get really bent out of shape.  It is part of the Mother’s Day entitlement program or something.  I stayed in bed for as long as I could, because Seth sometimes gets frustrated with me if he doesn’t get to serve me breakfast in bed.  At some point it occurred to me that maybe that wasn’t the plan, this year, and I could safely get up.  I took a bath, and almost no one knocked on the door.  I did, eventually, hear a little tap..tap..tap… and well…  it was Phil.  I had locked him out. 

He proceeded to give me instructions about how I should stay in our room until the kids came to get me.  I complied.  The children eventually made their way up the stairs and presented me with wonderful handmade cards and a bowl of chocolate covered strawberries.  Miah’s exact words were, “Happy Mother’s Day!  We have chocolate strawberries!  I’m so proud of you!”  Apparently, Grace and Caleb made the chocolate covered strawberries.  My understanding is that they couldn’t find any chocolate and tried to melt Tootsie Rolls in the microwave to accomplish this task.  Phil ran out to the store and got them some chocolate.  There are definitely hazards that come with sleeping in.  The strawberries were, however, fantastic.

Phil made “brunch”, and I am so full I may possibly explode.  Waffles… eggs… bacon…  It was good.  And, of course, this was accompanied by some beautiful roses and a wonderful card.  As a side note, I thought Grace was going to kick Ian down the stairs when he told me that Daddy had a surprise for me on the table.  Poor guy… he just cannot keep a secret for even two minutes!

At present I am considering how inappropriate it would be to take a little trip to Lowes or Home Depot to pick up the materials I need to build my laundry boxes.  Who goes to a construction store on Mother’s Day?  Maybe me…

I love my kids, and I would not trade them for anything.  What I really want most, today, is to just be their mom.  And I have that, even though those chocolate covered strawberries are long gone…

L.