…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.
