A Mommy Story

How was your Mother’s Day? Mine started out far too early with the chirp of a smoke detector at 4:30am. At first I was dreaming and heard it in the dream. Once I realized that it was impossible for my car to have a chirping smoke detector, I woke up and then tried to determine if I had dreamed the whole thing or if it was real.

Chirp.

So then I began the process of positioning myself in different rooms, listening to determine which smoke detector had the low battery warning. Once it was found, Aaron replaced the battery and we both went back to bed. Only I slept poorly after that. Ugh.

When I finally gave up on trying to have any meaningful sleep hours later, Mira was ready to tackle me with a Mother’s Day hug. Homemade cards and gifts were part of the celebrations.

If you can’t read Cordy’s card, it says, “Dear mom, Fire types are red. Water types are blue. Flowers are nice. And I love you!” That’s probably the sweetest Skylanders Mother’s Day card I’ve ever received. Bonus points for making it rhyme.

Aaron fulfilled my requests for a Mother’s Day gift that was practical and didn’t add to the clutter in our house. I received a membership to Massage Envy, so I can have once a month massages for my oft-injured back. He wins.

I’m never quite sure what to make of Mother’s Day as mom. Should I want to spend the day with my family? Or should I want to spend the day away from them, doing whatever I’d like? Since I also have a mother, I have an obligation to her, too, so then it isn’t my own day, right?

In the end, it’s always a day balancing family obligation and relaxing. It always goes by too quickly, too.

We visited with my mom and grandmother, going out for lunch together. My grandmother has slowed down since she had a stroke a few years ago, but she insists on being as independent as possible. She now requires someone’s arm to hold onto to steady herself while walking – a development that still seems so odd to me. She’s always been so strong and served as the no-nonsense matriarch of the family. But she still smiles warmly at my kids’ antics and lets them tell her the same bad jokes over and over. (To be fair, I don’t think she hears the jokes every time – that probably helps.)

I’m always happy to spend time with my mom, too. She was my rock growing up – the one person in my childhood that I could count on – and even though there’s plenty we don’t agree on, I still seek out her advice on practically everything. She gives far too much of herself to everyone else, and I worry that one day she’s going to completely exhaust herself by helping others and ignoring her own needs. But it’s hard to tell her to stop being so generous with her time and money, especially since so many people depend on her help.

I occasionally complain that she spoils Cordy and Mira too much when they’re with her, forgetting that she was fairly lenient with me, too. It’s no wonder the kids love to spend time with her – she encourages them to roll down hills, teaches them how to plant seeds, and lets them have ice cream with practically every meal.

Were it not so wet outside today, she probably would have taught them to pick asparagus with her.

After leaving my mom, we stopped to visit briefly with Aaron’s step-mom so the girls could give their Bubbie her Mother’s Day card. Like my mom, the kids love all of the creative pursuits they get to do with their Bubbie.

The rest of the day was a typical Sunday evening: a little quiet time, dinner, bedtime for the kids, and watching some TV into the evening while working on the computer a bit. Successful day? Absolutely.

But Mother’s Day, to me, is also about the two beautiful little girls who made me a mom. I’m so grateful that becoming a mother wasn’t the struggle for me that it is for some. We wanted children, we had healthy children…it was that simple. These two drive me nuts sometimes, they fight with each other and make messes, but they also give me purpose, shower me in love, and have taught me so much.

I’m so lucky to have my family.