Sunday, May 15, 2011

Mother's Day

Okay, so I'm a week behind on this post. Anyway...

On a day that's supposed to be exceptionally good, the Honored Mommy (me) gets only five hours of sleep the night before. Mother's Day starts out "in the red." She's tired.

Dutifully, she takes her children to church instead of pulling the covers back over her head. Husband/Daddy went an hour ago to teach his class of five year olds, otherwise, the Honored Mommy would have been tempted to send the children with him while she enjoyed the serenity of a book or dreamland.

After church, the Honored Mommy is taken to a 21st floor restaurant that has a view of a river below. Husband has lunch there occasionally during the weekdays and knows "everyone," therefore, he proudly introduces her and the three children to every server and cook on the premises, and to a couple groups of other diners that he just happens to know.

Sooo, the Honored Mommy has to shake a few hands, flash a few smiles, and say a few words between forkfuls of shrimp creole, smoked salmon, and other delicious items from the buffet. Still, she eats all she wants, including "the best" bread pudding for dessert.

Satisfied and full, the Honored Mommy wants to go home, but she looks out over the city with her family because they seem to be enjoying it. Then she takes a complimentary picture with them, shot by the Mother's Day photographer - even though her eyes are puffy from lack of sleep, and she hadn't bothered to cover her gray roots with her cover stick that morning.

Nice pic.

We're now homeward bound! The Honored Mommy snoozes a little during the drive.

A deviation: The husband has to go a little out of the way to drop off a card to a woman in a nursing home. The Honored Mommy can't argue with that (because it's a good deed) and continues her snooze...at least she "tries" to continue her snooze.

Instead of taking the route that would get them home with five turns, the husband/daddy takes the route that requires twenty turns. The Honored Mommy's head jerks and bobs at every turn. She feels like she's on a ride at the amusement park.

Then, daughter #1 has to have something from CVS. Another delay.

Finally, they're home. The presents are opened and the Honored Mommy takes a breather. Then she puts on comfortable clothes, because of course...she's back to work.

This story was inspired by a Mother's Day episode of the ABC TV show, The Middle. The mother gets her wish of being alone on Mother's Day, then wastes her solitude by doing stressful chores. Her family comes home after an activity filled day and she's upset because they had fun without her.

A different story from mine, yet I was reminded of how much our loved ones do to give us a good day; and I appreciate it. I feel the love...even when it wears me out.

What do you do on Mother's Day?

5/16/11 - Thought I should add: This story reflects my personal sense of humor, but please tell me your stories, whether they are humorous or not.

Image from http://www.delmarvatowncrier.com/

(I'll work with blogger soon to solve the line spacing problem. One of my readers suggested that I may need to update to the latest software version.)

16 comments:

Betty W said...

You are brave to post it like it is. I couldn´t because my kids read my blog and I didn´t want to hurt them. They really mean well and would not get it, if they knew I was left a bit "empty". They did all the "gift/flower giving"....what more could I want, right? I did have a wonderful Mother´s Day and shouldn´t complain. So I won´t. Maybe it´s Midlife. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Anita, we are finally online in our home here in Japan! I've really, really missed reading your blog!! Loved this post! This year was so different for me....the first time I have been separated from my kids on Mother's day. Not something I really thought about before we moved...and then the day came and I said..."oh...gulp". It was an amazing day though. I'm sure the Lord must have known that it was all I could do to hold back my tears. My youngest daughter did everything she could possibly do to figure out a way to call me...and she did! It was such a wonderful present! My middle daughter managed to call my mother-in-law's house and somehow between the English and Japanese they understood each other. MIL called my husbands cell to let us know she called. My soldier daughter was on an important assignment so she couldn't communicate but I already knew she was thinking of me. The rest of the day I got to plant flowers and putter in my "new" garden-something I have longed to do for YEARS now. It was such a blessing....butterflies, bees softly buzzing about...bird song, and a mountain view. Sometimes we have to take a step back so see the blessings in a situation that at first might seem a bit...depressing. Even though I missed the girls so much, I felt so blessed. Oh, and also- hubby gave me a huge hug and kiss first thing in the morning...he remembered. :)

Tabor said...

I took a phone call from daughter and never heard from son who was on travel. Cooked my own dinner and that was that! So you mustn't complain.

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Anita, I really hope you had a wonderful mother's day. I love having hubby and girls cook dinner on mother's day at our house. Such a treat!!

Abby said...

It was Mother's Day?

Okay, I DID know it was Mother's Day. I told the husband and kids years ago that I don't want anything special as I'm not into "Hallmark Holidays", and besides, every day is Mother' Day. They comply too easily.

Still, I kind of wonder if we shouldn't recognize it somehow. I remember it being special when I was a kid - making homemade cards for my mom and grandma, and eating dinner at the big table with the fancy dishes. Mom cooked of course!

Buckeroomama said...

Mother's Day was sweet. It was the first Mother's Day that Z really understood and she was SO excited. To see her, you'd think it was her birthday. She made me card after card and gave me paper flowers. She was all eager for me to go to her school's MD celebration, so that she could give me her surprise. :)

Joanne said...

I spent the afternoon doing some summer planting with my daughters. The sun was shining and the air warm. We planted red geraniums and ponytails in several large deck pots, bring on summer :)

Karen said...

We were up at the crack of dawn for my daughter's softball game. The rest of day was spent at home, except for a couple of hours that I "escaped" to the library, my favorite place to runaway. My kids were being a bit needy that day, but when I got home, they all chipped in to fix dinner. That was a treat.

I appreciate how you tell it like it is, Anita!

Rebecca S. said...

I loved this. Even when we are on the receiving end, we mothers have to work at it. How true :)
My mother's day started with tea in bed and some sweet little presents including a Haagen Dasz bar from my eldest. As long as I get served tea in bed and don't have to cook supper, I'm happy as a clam and expect nothing more...but we usually go on a family outing, too.

Tammy@Beatrice Banks said...

I enjoyed that post. It was very realistic. Sort of the kind that I have. I feel blessed to be honored by my family too. I got up and cooked breakfast b/c my college aged daughter was home and I felt compelled to do something special for her even though it was my day. Then she didn't even eat it. Oh well. The rest of the day was nice. We actually had our dinner on Friday night b/c we knew the restaurants would be crowded on Sunday so we picked up pizza. It was actually fun and I enjoyed the rest.

K said...

I love this post! You've painted a picture of a day in the life of a mother so well, and what better day to recognize it than Mother's Day. I've had some friends (mothers) who check themselves into a hotel (alone) or go shopping the whole day by themselves, and it is their R&R, their way to celebrate being a mom. My way is more along the lines of yours, ruffled yet beautiful. This Mother's Day was different as my husband is deployed, but my older daughter knew it was a special day and gave me a present she made at preschool (a homemade frame with puzzles pieces on it and a phrase saying I love you to pieces). The rest of the day was full of giggles, hugs, hair pulling, and sighs (a typical day), but I loved it because I love being a mom!!

Bernie said...

Sounds like a typical mother's day to me. When I was a child, I remember we used to go out to the garden before church and we kids could pick a red flower to pin on our clothes but my mom and dad whose parents were dead in Sweden had to wear a white one.

In my own little family, I made the dinner for my in-laws celebration==Bill's Mom. They lived in the same town.



I did get the cards made in school from my kids.

yonca said...

My mother's Day was sooo different this year. My mom and my son was with me. I received a picture from my son he drew as usual and with kisses&hugs..

Since I came to Turkey the first time I am reading blogs. I missed to visit your blog.

Happy Sunday, Anita!

Annie Z said...

Been a while since I've dropped by. But as always, I've enjoyed reading your posts!!

Mari said...

Hi Anita - thanks for stopping at my blog.
I really enjoyed what you said about Mother's Day. I've had a few like that too. :)

Just Two Chicks said...

Ahhh, Mother's Day fun!! Your meal sounded wonderful!! I think I'm going to drag my family to the Harbor for some creole after reading this!

Our Mother's day consisted of all kinds of cakes and goodies cooked by the children and a mess of great proportions that I ended up cleaning... which was fine with me, because I'm a bit OCD about how things get cleaned anyway :)

We then spent the rest of the day at Six Flags... Ummm, can I just say that deserves a Mother of the Year award? It was hot, muggy, and busy! Whew!