I know not everyone has great or even good Mother's Days. I get so frustrated for my friends who are disappointed by sucky Mother's Days. However a person feels about Valentines Day, religious holidays or government holidays, even if they are "made-up" holidays, I really feel that Mother's Day and Father's Day are important.
Parenting is hard! Raising kids is full of ups and downs. Mothers and fathers work really hard for their children, and I believe that all most people want is a little recognition and appreciation! Is one day a year too much to ask? Even if you are lucky enough to constantly get recognition and appreciation, one full day of being able to take it easy is not too much to ask.
With young children, the onus of Mother's Day (or Father's Day) definitely falls to the partner. (This must be hard for single parents!) Sure, my kids make me cute things in their classes, and the schools have Muffins for Moms, but the day itself and purchased presents can only be handled by an adult. (Which reminds me, I better start planning for Father's Day!)
My husband is just fantastic! He is especially good at being thoughtful and planning in advance. He never just buys any old cliched gift, but instead really thinks about the person he is buying the gift for and what they would find meaningful. (One year before my birthday, I actually had to tell him that sometimes I just want the cliched chocolate or jewelry or lingerie! So he bought me all three for my birthday.) I wish I had his talent for gift buying, but I've at least learned a lot from him.
And on Mother's Day? He basically gives me the gift of the whole day! I get to hang out with him and my kids or without them in any way I want. I get to have the joy of playing with the kids or sitting in my bed without any of the frustrations that come up in normal activities.
This year was just fabulous. And I'm going to write out my whole day so that I'll always remember how fabulous my Mother's Days are thanks to him and the kids.
Londo woke me up with breakfast in bed at the agreed upon time of 9:00. He made one of my favorite breakfasts: a homemade breakfast sandwich with Canadian bacon-type of ham, scrambled eggs and cheese. He included fruits and a perfectly-fixed cup of coffee. Not only that, but I woke up to him and the kids coming in the room singing "Happy Mother's Day to you..." Each child held a tulip, while Londo held the tray with breakfast. Then they all kissed me and left me alone to eat my breakfast.
Yes, it was as perfect as it sounds.
After breakfast, I went down to open my presents, which Londo had the kids pick out on the internet and make me cards. I got a lavender bath set from the Pumpkin and two magnetic sheets to slide pictures into and hang on the fridge from the Pookie. Super cute stuff, and they really thought about what I might like (Daddy's teaching them well)! Londo got me gifts in a theme. The theme was "strong women" he told me as I opened the gift bag. I got an Amy Winehouse CD, a Miranda Lambert CD and the DVD set of the short-lived, totally campy TV show Cleopatra 2525... a show I totally loved and we'd been talking about recently. In addition, Londo had done all the dishes! Fabulous gifts, each and every one!
I went back up to sit in bed with my computer and immediately put the CDs into my iTunes. And listen to them, of course! I got out of bed before noon (11:45, but that still counts!), took a shower and then had lunch. A fantastic, easy morning. I wanted to spend the day working on a couple projects, which I did next. I finished going through and filing or throwing piles of paper I had in the guest room/craft room.
Once the room was clear (I'm not going to count the piles hidden in the closet), I set up the sewing machine I bought a few months ago. And then, I watched the DVD that came with machine and set it all up! I wound the bobbin! I threaded the bobbin! I threaded the top thread! And then? I practiced a few lines of stitches to make sure it was all working correctly and that I didn't mess it up. And IT WORKED!
I'm thrilled! I've been wanting to start sewing for a long time, and now I have the machine AND it is all set up just waiting for me to make the pillow I've been planning to start with. The Pumpkin got a sewing machine for Christmas (she'd been wanting one for a while), and I had told her that once I set up my machine and start getting the hang of it, we'd get her machine set up and start sewing together! I'm so excited!
It was a lovely day outside, so with my projects complete, I went out and sat on the glider looking through sewing books while the kids played. Londo was going to grill, but apparently wasps made a nest in our grill since last summer. He moved indoors to cook me steak and veggies. In addition, he pointed out that my dad was likely going to be home alone for dinner, since my mom was at her beach house for the weekend. After getting my approval, he called my dad to invite him over for dinner. And my dad told him that my mom was on her way back and would be home in time for dinner. So I immediately called her up and invited her over!
It was really great to have them over for Mother's Day dinner. And I could see that it made my mom especially happy too, making me realize that my siblings and I need to plan a special celebration for our mom on the Saturday of Mother's Day weekend. She may say that she doesn't want anything and wants us to spend time with our families getting pampered by them, but I could easily see that it made her so happy to have Mother's Day dinner with us. I regret not realizing that sooner and planning something that she couldn't say no to.
Londo put the kids to bed while I saw my parents out. That night, I just hung out in our bed playing games on my phone and watching the Murphy Brown Mother's Day special. Londo had been having a really hard time with allergies, but he spent the entire day not letting it show. He got up with the kids early, did all those wonderful things (including mowing the lawn so we could go outside) without even seeming like he was tired or dealing with bad allergies. And though he was trying to stay awake to have some romantic time with me, I told him to go to sleep early. I had a fabulous day and was enjoying the TV shows and games on my phone.
It was just a fabulous day! Everything was wonderful! I would have been fine to simply have a day without the kids fighting and me not having to do dishes. But this day, as the other Mother's Days, was well beyond just making me feel fine. It made me so happy. I feel so loved and appreciated and respected!
Too bad every day isn't Mother's Day! ;-)
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