My mother's day

I know this post seems awful late...but my Mother's day was, how should I say? Like an extended-release tablet, a little bit of "immediate relief", but not in "full effect" for quite a while, in my case, a week later. Randy and the kids started off Mother's Day (May 11) great! They came in to my bedroom to wake me up with a song they had written together. All in their pajamas, Randy on guitar, Audrey holding the lyric page (and leading the vocals), Isaac "I'm the clapper", but later deciding to grab his guitar as well, and Violet with a very serious face, looking straight ahead and shaking her tambourine. It was a great way to start my day. Randy made me a great breakfast too, and then, out the door to church. The service was great...however, you must appreciate the irony of walking out of a Mother's Day church service to pick up your children in their classrooms, only to find they have misbehaved, and run out of the building, despite the voices of their teachers calling after them to wait for a parent to pick them up. So, after picking up Violet from the nursery (a well-enclosed space), we went to find the other 2 children, only to then "drag" them back to their classrooms where we could re-try the routine of waiting for a parent to pick them up. Of course, all the other kids were gone, the teachers as well (I was hoping to have the kids apologize to them). Isaac took it in stride, seeming not to care, yet shouting out the occasional "You're hurting me" or "Stop touching me" while we made the trek back to the classrooms. Audrey, on the other hand, was teary-eyed and guilty-looking, but insistent that it was all Isaac's fault...and continued to argue that point until she got in trouble for talking back as well. Well, "Happy Mother's Day to me", I thought, as we all huffed and puffed back to the van to go home from church. I at least enjoyed a REALLY long nap after getting home (much needed after Christa's birthday party the night before). And then we all headed to Randy's mom's house for a super-yummy, relaxing dinner with Randy's mom and brother.

The following days (as you've seen from past posts) were spent celebrating Isaac...but also trying to deal with the "wreckage" that ensues from a child (namely said Isaac) getting too little sleep, too little routine, and too much attention that makes him believe that he can do whatever he would like since his universe currently revolves around him. Violet has also, as of recently, been putting in her 2 cents as far as tantrums (along with the frequent "NO") are concerned. Such is how the ebb and flow of life goes with a stay-at-home mom and her three young children.

So, when is the "extended relief" part coming? Well, after taking a deep breath on Saturday night (after Isaac's party and a really nice, relatively calm, and well-behaved dinner out to Red Robin with all 5 of us), I decided to take a mulligan on my Mother's Day. Not that I did not fully appreciate the song, breakfast, and nap that Randy gave to me the Sunday before (I could not ask for a more loving, helpful, and gracious husband)...I just wanted to fully enjoy my kids, and spend a day with them...participating in their lives and taking a break from all the distractions of being a mom (dishes, dirty bathrooms, laundry, discipline, etc.).

I woke up on Sunday morning, started my coffee, and made banana pancakes with Isaac, while Audrey washed and sliced some strawberries and Violet set the table. Audrey helped with the dishes afterwards as well. We ate our pancakes and strawberries with some real maple syrup, and then got dressed to take Lucy for a walk. It was only 9:30, but you could already feel the heat (it got up to 104 degrees that day), so we returned home to stay indoors for the rest of the day. We played some board games together, emptied out Audrey's closet so it could be our secret fort that we read books in with our flashlights, and then watched Enchanted together and danced along to all the songs! And all that before lunch! The girls and I relaxed in the afternoon (Randy took Isaac to a birthday party) reading more books and painting with water-colors at the kitchen table. And we ended our day with a great tri-tip BBQ at the Wiens' house and home-made ice-cream! Doesn't get much better than that!

My mom happened to call in the middle of the day (actually in the middle of our dancing) to just check in and I told her what we were doing. She laughed, "It sounds like you're doing a bunch of things the kids like? Not a day for you." And she was right, in a way. I would love to spend a day at the spa, or have a night out with my husband, or a vacation to Hawaii. But I also want to show my kids I love them, and play with them, and watch silly movies with them, and sing and dance with them until I'm laughing so hard that I can't stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks. I want to enjoy my life, and enjoy being a mom in every stage that comes my way! And this year, this was the perfect way for me to do just that.