Mother's Day

Mother's Day - it's my favorite day.  I'm a sentimental person by nature, so the idea of a whole day dedicated to be grateful for being given the gift of motherhood just fills me up with good feelings.  What also fills me up is the french toast, scrambled eggs and coffee I just enjoyed at First Watch.  I know we should have gone to church (that would be the Catholic guilt that I will carry with me my whole life), but the idea of going out to brunch after church and then having to wait an hour to be seated would have just left me irritated and inevitably needing to pull my kids off each other as their boredom turns into picking on each other.  So, instead, we serenely piled into the car off to breakfast on this Sunday morning and I was able to sit and thank God for my mom and my kids while we waited the entire 7 minutes to be seated.  Really - it's the little gifts that make my day.  Don't get me wrong, Tom and the girls got me a pretty kick-ass gift for Mother's Day this year.  But it's the 26 homemade cards I will get today (some of which are in the photo), Tom going to the grocery for me, the Casey-decorated gardening gloves and Emily saying, "Mommy, I like you" over and over today that will make my cup runneth over.

And today I will be (extra) grateful for my mother.  I kind of lucked out when it comes to moms.  Right about now mom is reading this and she has just stopped 'tisking' me for not going to church and she is wondering if she will be embarrassed or start to cry about what I write here.  Me gushing will just lead to both, I know.  But I will briefly say that to still want to be my mom after my teenage years is a testament to kind of mom she is.  When Emily was born, doctors told us she had 1 in 3 odds of dying before the age of 2 and she would likely be in wheelchair and not able to communicate or learn for the rest of her life.  Mom stayed with us that week after Emily was born and watched those awful days unfold and unravel around our little family.  That time brought her and I closer.  I remember when Emily was about 8 days old sitting, sobbing and telling her she needed to help me be a mom to Casey because I didn't think I could do it anymore.  Crap!  That's heavy stuff.  Talk about putting a load on your mom!!  But I guess at any age or stage of my life, I will always look to my mom to be there for me just as I hope my girls will to me.  (I make no promises that I will survive their teenage years if they are like me, though.)

Webster's dictionary defines 'Mother' as:   "A female person who is pregnant or gives birth to a child."
Okay .... that covers just about 9 months and 1 day of being a mother.  It sure doesn't stop there does it?   For most of us, it is something that evolves from wanting to try for a baby, to getting pregnant, to laying in the hospital begging for an epidural, to the awe of hearing the first cries.  There is a moment of 'Holy cow!  Can we do this?'  Then you succumb to nothing other than being taken over by the complete love you never would have believed possible.   Obviously Mr. Webster was a mister - guys just can't fully understand the mother-child bond.  He totally missed the part about making up silly songs to pacify your child in the middle of Target so you can get the 4 things you went there for as well as the 16 other thing you've found.  And the part about the swell of tears you have to fight off when the bus comes to pick up your child on the first day of kindergarten.  And every other second of the rest of your life you spend worrying, encouraging, consoling, celebrating, teaching, nurturing, crying, and praying for your kids.  And even though many other days you might consider selling one of your sweet babies to the highest bidder or at least counting the minutes to your husband comes home, on Mother's Day we sit back and savor all the things that Mr. Webster doesn't define.  Those mom-only thoughts and feelings.  You know - like going through the kids old baby clothes and knowing there are certain outfits you will never part with because they hold special memories for you.  And being able to drive the car, sing every animal sound to 'Old McDonald', while passing sippy cups back and mentally putting together the Happy Meal order for when you pull into McDonalds.  And catching yourself mid-way through saying, "You'll catch a cold if you don't wear a coat" - only to realize you sound like your mother, and then giving yourself a mental head-slap and high five at the same time.

Tom has just taken Casey with him to Kroger and Casey promises she'll come back with something chocolaty for me (see?  it's that mother-child bond!  girl KNOWS her mommy likes chocolate!!) and Emily is here next to me decorating my feet with stickers and telling me she likes me but wanting me to get off the computer.  I will try harder to savor ALL my days as a mommy to my girls and not just today.  On those days when my patience is running short, I will go back to this post and re-read my in-the-momentness I am savoring today.  And I will try to savor each day a little more.  My mom tells me it all goes by too fast and I should enjoy them more while they are little.  I suspect she knows what she is talking about.  Probably more than Mr. Webster even.