Reflecting on the end of my day, I typed the title of this post. Seeing those two words there in print, made me giggle aloud. Is there any OTHER kind of mom? Is there a RETIRED mom? I could argue that even my mom, with two adult children, hasn't fully retired from us yet! We use this term as a society to distinguish between the moms who work AT HOME and the ones who WORK outside the home, still there is work - an amazing, SUPER-HUMAN amount of work.
As I scrambled from my chair of an after-school meeting, excusing myself, "Ive got to get my kids form school. I'm sorry I have to go." "No problem," they all say. I assume they understand and can't help it if they don't. I rush down the hall of the school, with minutes to spare before I am due to pick them up. I run into a number of the moms I've become close to. We all have that same LOOK. We don't need to speak - we exchange knowing glances. Moms have a secret language - a code that is often communicated totally non-verbally through a glance, a sigh, a gesture. We all seem to speak the language and it bonds us. Today, was no different. As we exchanged warm smiles, all of our faces said one thing, "I'm EXHAUSTED!" The silent expressions on our faces reflect back both an agreement and a sympathy. We are bonded. As I enter the room with one of my friends to pick up our kids, she tells me that her day is far from over - after all, it's "only" 4 pm)! She's off to this practice, that errand, no idea what to have for dinner with this schedule. We remark, "Why do we do this?" As if on cue, I hear, "MMOOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" I am met with a rush of smiles that fill the room, and my heart. All of the day's events, challenges, frustrations, and let-downs leave my body like an exorcism. This is all that matters. It's mom time. THIS is why I do what I do.
I've been fortunate enough to have had both sides of the "work" of a mom and I will tell anyone who will listen that moms who work AT HOME have the toughest jobs around! These moms are often referred to as 'Stay at Home moms' - another dangerous misnomer since this is exactly what most of these parenting warriors try not to do! Part of the challenge of being a mom who works at home, is the daily "lesson plans" that are carefully crafted to educate, stimulate, entertain, build character, give exposure, provide perspective, allow opportunities, foster growth, and most important to WEAR OUT your precious little ones in the hope that you'll at least get a quiet ride home, if not an actual NAP!! I can only speak to my own experience at home with my kids, but, as joyous as it was and as much as I appreciate the 17 months I shared with them, it was exhausting, challenging, dirty at times (babies produce interesting messes), and I will confess - and even quite boring sometimes. I encountered all sorts of conflicting emotions. I longed for my professional career I'd left behind, but I didn't want to go back to the workforce full-time. I dreamed of a child-free meal with friends or colleagues, but knew that they wouldn't look at me the same way my kids did. I felt selfish for wanting the validation that a work environment provided for a job well done - let's face it, my 7 month old wasn't thanking me for making lunch or commenting on how nice the house looked after a long day of cleaning. Who was I to be conflicted? Didn't I know how many women would have given a limb to be home with their kids all day?
So, I propose we begin to change our categorization for the ways that moms spend their day. Either way, moms work super hard all day so that their kids can have choices, opportunities, character, love, kindness, compassion, empathy,sensitivity, and most of all, open doors. Some women have the choice between where their "office" is located. Many, many others, are doing the best they can to provide these very same gifts to their kids, perhaps not able to be with them all day, and making the most of the precious after-hours time. So, the next time you see a woman in the park midday, pushing her child on the swing, or a mom in a suit, running down the halls of the school, having missed a meeting to get there on time, just smile and appreciate the WORK that each is doing.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Where have I been?
Where have I been this whole time? Isn't this the essential "mom" question? It seems like the hours turn into days, turn into weeks, and then, I look and it has been 5 months since I posted on this blog. Shame on me! Is there even anyone reading this anymore? Have you all cyber-walked away, having given up hope that I would ever make time again for the luxury of writing a BLOG? Despite the fact that the blogging had screeched to a grinding halt, life has not....
Since my last post, we have enjoyed a 6 week summer vacation in Colorado, Vieques, and St. Croix. You learn a lot about yourself, your husband, and your kids when you take an extended vacation. For instance, I learned that my son has 7 different positions that he can contort himself into to sleep on an airplane. I learned that the "pay per view" movie RIP OFF on the airplane is SO worth it if you are with kids. I paid $5 for each of them. I would have paid $50 for the 92 minutes of quasi-distraction it provided - especially to the "flubber" that occupies the inside of my 4-year old son. Following Murphy's Law, the probability of the "flubber" personality emerging is inversely proportional to the size of the space my son occupies. The smaller the space, the "bigger" the energy! I'm waiting patiently for my patent on "4 year old calming serum" to come through. The other concept in my think-tank is a way to recreate, bottle, and distribute Boy Energy. Forget your venti mocha latte! Throw away the Red Bull! Here comes " BOOOOOOYYYYYYY POWWWEEERRRRR!!" I can hear it now...ch, ching!
I have learned to love, respect, and appreciate my little Energizer Bunny (c)! He inspires me to do me and be more. His sweetness makes my heart smile. I love sweet, sensitive boys. I understand how "Mama's boys" happen. He OWNS my little finger (it's not just rented space)! His Curious George-like curiosity is amazing and I've smelled a million more roses at his insistence...
Kayleigh is my thinker. Wise beyond her years, totally tuned in to the energy of others, compassionate, thoughtful.. I often contemplate her temperament and wonder how much I can actually take credit for. When people tell me how fabulous my kids are, can I really say, "Thank you!" as if I have created them all by myself? Do I really have to acknowledge the nature side of the argument? can't I conveniently just believe the nurture side? I'd love to say that they're fabulous because I am fabulous. Because we work so hard, so much. Because I have a degree in mental health and I KNOW how to parent. I'd love to take full credit for their gifts, but I can't...
Days after I gave birth to my first child, my mother passed along what I consider to be the BEST piece of parenting advice that I have ever received. She reminded me that my children were not my possession, to control or to own. They belonged to the world. My job was simply to guide them on their own journey- to walk with them for as long as they'd allow and even when they'd prefer I didn't. To help them to discover the ways in which they can change the world, but never to posses them. Perhaps that is the key to why my children are fabulous and sweet and sensitive, and happy, and energetic, and FUN - because they just get to "be"...
Since my last post, we have enjoyed a 6 week summer vacation in Colorado, Vieques, and St. Croix. You learn a lot about yourself, your husband, and your kids when you take an extended vacation. For instance, I learned that my son has 7 different positions that he can contort himself into to sleep on an airplane. I learned that the "pay per view" movie RIP OFF on the airplane is SO worth it if you are with kids. I paid $5 for each of them. I would have paid $50 for the 92 minutes of quasi-distraction it provided - especially to the "flubber" that occupies the inside of my 4-year old son. Following Murphy's Law, the probability of the "flubber" personality emerging is inversely proportional to the size of the space my son occupies. The smaller the space, the "bigger" the energy! I'm waiting patiently for my patent on "4 year old calming serum" to come through. The other concept in my think-tank is a way to recreate, bottle, and distribute Boy Energy. Forget your venti mocha latte! Throw away the Red Bull! Here comes " BOOOOOOYYYYYYY POWWWEEERRRRR!!" I can hear it now...ch, ching!
I have learned to love, respect, and appreciate my little Energizer Bunny (c)! He inspires me to do me and be more. His sweetness makes my heart smile. I love sweet, sensitive boys. I understand how "Mama's boys" happen. He OWNS my little finger (it's not just rented space)! His Curious George-like curiosity is amazing and I've smelled a million more roses at his insistence...
Kayleigh is my thinker. Wise beyond her years, totally tuned in to the energy of others, compassionate, thoughtful.. I often contemplate her temperament and wonder how much I can actually take credit for. When people tell me how fabulous my kids are, can I really say, "Thank you!" as if I have created them all by myself? Do I really have to acknowledge the nature side of the argument? can't I conveniently just believe the nurture side? I'd love to say that they're fabulous because I am fabulous. Because we work so hard, so much. Because I have a degree in mental health and I KNOW how to parent. I'd love to take full credit for their gifts, but I can't...
Days after I gave birth to my first child, my mother passed along what I consider to be the BEST piece of parenting advice that I have ever received. She reminded me that my children were not my possession, to control or to own. They belonged to the world. My job was simply to guide them on their own journey- to walk with them for as long as they'd allow and even when they'd prefer I didn't. To help them to discover the ways in which they can change the world, but never to posses them. Perhaps that is the key to why my children are fabulous and sweet and sensitive, and happy, and energetic, and FUN - because they just get to "be"...
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Upcoming Events...
My wise friend, Melynda, who inspired me to start blogging said that another reason for a blog is to allow the people closest to you to know as much about the mundane details of your life as the people at the office! It is true, how easily, we overlook the small little things in our weekly, monthly, or even annual "update conversations". As such, when I don't have any new "kid stories", I will do my best to provide a window into the upcoming events in our family.
Kayleigh is playing soccer again. Each Saturday morning, we load up the car with snacks, drinks, soccer gear, an folding chairs and head towards the field. It is a really great program - all for fun and learning without all the crazy competition. There are no formal practices. They have 10 Kindergarten girls on a team and they spend about 30 minutes doing some ball handling drills and about 45 minutes "playing" against another team. Picture a full size soccer field divided into 10 "mini-fields"...each team has two parent volunteer coaches who, so far, have been quite terrific with the girls...CJ calls it "swarm ball" because they all just chase the ball around like a big swarm of bees. Kayleigh is really quite good (genetic predisposition to the sport). Many people don't know that soccer was CJ's first sport and he played at the college level too until his college soccer coach told him he had to choose between soccer and volleyball. We all know how that one worked out. Anyway, CJ was a record-holding goalie in high school (some of the records still stand) so imagine how amused we were when Kayleigh said she wanted to be a goalie (we've never told her about CJ)...the coaches really like her to play offense because she is really fast and likes to play the whole time. So, typically, she'll kick the ball towards the goal and then run back to defend her own goal - a one girl team! =)
Aidan is quite terrific at the games...his January birthday means he misses the cutoff to play by two weeks, so he is SO ready!! He has been a champ though - sits on the sidelines (bribed with snacks and juice!) and cheers so loudly for his sister - SO CUTE! He can go to soccer camp this summer and will play in the Fall - he is super excited!
I am "walking" at my 6th year graduation this Saturday. Since many people don't know, a "6th year" is another 33 credits beyond my Master's. It is basically between a Master's and a PhD. I got it in Educational Leadership and Administration (basically means I can be a school principal some day - SCARY HUH????). It was a cohort model meaning the whole program was with the same 25 people. We all got very close and so everyone is walking on Saturday together. At my Master's graduation, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with K, so this one should be a bit more comfortable at least. I will confess that I feel waaaaayyyy to old to be going through the literal pomp and circumstance. I picked up my cap & gown yesterday, amongst all of the undergrads and felt, well, REAAAALLLYYY OLD! I just found myself wanting to scream, "You have NO IDEA how big the world is!!!" and "Put some clothes on!!" or "Have some respect for yourself and stop acting like a drunk idiot!" - SEE, told you - OLD!!! Thankfully, the graduation on Saturday is just for grad students, so I won't feel like such a geriatric!
CJ & the kids have less than a month of school left and I'm done a few days after that. The three of them have had a truly awesome year at Ridgefield Academy. CJ has loved being there and the admin is relying heavily on him for all sorts of things, particularly anything to do with heavy lifting or reaching things on high shelves! In all seriousness, he has taken on a leadership role in the new technology initiative at the school and has been helping to maintain their network (I had no idea he knew that much about computers!!). Aidan & Kayleigh have thrived and we are looking forward to many more years at RA. My move from high school to middle school has been a dramatic change that I am slowly adjusting to. It has given me a lot more time back in the evenings with the family which has been terrific, but I do a lot of things about working with high school kids...
All 4 of us are eager for our amazing summer vacation! We leave on 6/18 for a week in Colorado. CJ's godbrother is getting married and then we will enjoy a week together out there with the whole family. We then fly straight to St. Croix for a month!! We will visit my dad and brother in Vieques. I can't wait to see my 2 nieces , Jazlyn & Jayda and spoil them rotten!!
We have just finished our first Junior Olympic Volleyball season and it went exceptionally well. We ha 60 girls involved with the program and our oldest team came in 3rd in a Bid to the National Championships - an amazing feat for a first year Club. It is a RIDICULOUS amount of work, but has been very rewarding in many ways. We will run a week of camp when we return from vacation and then Club will begin again in the Winter.
I think that's about it for now...we hope you are all healthy & happy and enjoying beautiful weather!! We love you and hope to see each of you soon!!!XOXOX
Kayleigh is playing soccer again. Each Saturday morning, we load up the car with snacks, drinks, soccer gear, an folding chairs and head towards the field. It is a really great program - all for fun and learning without all the crazy competition. There are no formal practices. They have 10 Kindergarten girls on a team and they spend about 30 minutes doing some ball handling drills and about 45 minutes "playing" against another team. Picture a full size soccer field divided into 10 "mini-fields"...each team has two parent volunteer coaches who, so far, have been quite terrific with the girls...CJ calls it "swarm ball" because they all just chase the ball around like a big swarm of bees. Kayleigh is really quite good (genetic predisposition to the sport). Many people don't know that soccer was CJ's first sport and he played at the college level too until his college soccer coach told him he had to choose between soccer and volleyball. We all know how that one worked out. Anyway, CJ was a record-holding goalie in high school (some of the records still stand) so imagine how amused we were when Kayleigh said she wanted to be a goalie (we've never told her about CJ)...the coaches really like her to play offense because she is really fast and likes to play the whole time. So, typically, she'll kick the ball towards the goal and then run back to defend her own goal - a one girl team! =)
Aidan is quite terrific at the games...his January birthday means he misses the cutoff to play by two weeks, so he is SO ready!! He has been a champ though - sits on the sidelines (bribed with snacks and juice!) and cheers so loudly for his sister - SO CUTE! He can go to soccer camp this summer and will play in the Fall - he is super excited!
I am "walking" at my 6th year graduation this Saturday. Since many people don't know, a "6th year" is another 33 credits beyond my Master's. It is basically between a Master's and a PhD. I got it in Educational Leadership and Administration (basically means I can be a school principal some day - SCARY HUH????). It was a cohort model meaning the whole program was with the same 25 people. We all got very close and so everyone is walking on Saturday together. At my Master's graduation, I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with K, so this one should be a bit more comfortable at least. I will confess that I feel waaaaayyyy to old to be going through the literal pomp and circumstance. I picked up my cap & gown yesterday, amongst all of the undergrads and felt, well, REAAAALLLYYY OLD! I just found myself wanting to scream, "You have NO IDEA how big the world is!!!" and "Put some clothes on!!" or "Have some respect for yourself and stop acting like a drunk idiot!" - SEE, told you - OLD!!! Thankfully, the graduation on Saturday is just for grad students, so I won't feel like such a geriatric!
CJ & the kids have less than a month of school left and I'm done a few days after that. The three of them have had a truly awesome year at Ridgefield Academy. CJ has loved being there and the admin is relying heavily on him for all sorts of things, particularly anything to do with heavy lifting or reaching things on high shelves! In all seriousness, he has taken on a leadership role in the new technology initiative at the school and has been helping to maintain their network (I had no idea he knew that much about computers!!). Aidan & Kayleigh have thrived and we are looking forward to many more years at RA. My move from high school to middle school has been a dramatic change that I am slowly adjusting to. It has given me a lot more time back in the evenings with the family which has been terrific, but I do a lot of things about working with high school kids...
All 4 of us are eager for our amazing summer vacation! We leave on 6/18 for a week in Colorado. CJ's godbrother is getting married and then we will enjoy a week together out there with the whole family. We then fly straight to St. Croix for a month!! We will visit my dad and brother in Vieques. I can't wait to see my 2 nieces , Jazlyn & Jayda and spoil them rotten!!
We have just finished our first Junior Olympic Volleyball season and it went exceptionally well. We ha 60 girls involved with the program and our oldest team came in 3rd in a Bid to the National Championships - an amazing feat for a first year Club. It is a RIDICULOUS amount of work, but has been very rewarding in many ways. We will run a week of camp when we return from vacation and then Club will begin again in the Winter.
I think that's about it for now...we hope you are all healthy & happy and enjoying beautiful weather!! We love you and hope to see each of you soon!!!XOXOX
Monday, May 12, 2008
Where do they get this stuff??
When do funny kids become boring adults?? Clearly, this DOES happen. There are many more funny kids than there are funny adults. So, where do you think the great little person personality goes when it turns into a boring, uninteresting big person?
The stuff that comes out of my kids' mouths astonishes me. I suppose I should count myself fortunate that through either sheer luck, coincidence, or maybe some decent parenting, my kids' humor is still pretty clean.
Still, their sense of humor amazes me. I don't even think they know they are funny, which, in turn, makes them twice as funny. Half the time, it isn't so much what they are saying as much as it is that they are saying it at all which makes it so funny. Allow me to explain...
One of my favorite "Aidan stories" happened a few months ago...it was 5:30 am on a Monday morning. Anyone who knows me, knows I can't tie my shoes at that hour, let alone be an effective parent. Yet, I persist to try - even at that hour. We had had a typical "birthday party from hell weekend" - 4 in one weekend. This weekend yielded hundreds of miles on my car (which just kills me these days as I watch my gas gauge go down!), and FOUR GOODIE BAGS filled with pounds of sugar - quite literally. So, picture it - there I am - 5:30 am - attempting to find my face enough to put makeup on. Down the stairs runs my beautiful little boy who DID NOT inherit my love of sleeping. I try not to punish him for my inability to be awake at this hour. He prods me about having candy. "Can I have this?", "How about this?", "This would be yummy." I muster all the patience within me and continue to tell him, "Maybe after dinner." He finally looks at me and dejectedly says, "Ya know Mom, I don't think you're funny and no one else thinks you're funny either!" I find myself kneeling next to him saying, "Aidan, everyone thinks I'm funny!!!" As if I am having an out of body experience, I suddenly have a birds-eye view of this scene and am consumed with the overwhelming feeling that I should "get a grip!!"
Last week, CJ and I were talking on the cell phone. Aidan was with CJ. We lost reception and CJ was saying, "hello? hello? (can you hear me now??)" to which my precocious son replied, "maybe she hung up. Maybe she just didn't want to hear it anymore!" I'm starting to think my son knows things that I don't....
Kayleigh is a delight unto herself and is embodying the pre-pre-teen movement! I keep saying, "She's 5!!!!! WHAT are we doing talking about this??? A few days ago, she brought me a spiral-bound notebook the other day to show me a picture she had drawn. I started to gently flip through the pages in the book. She screams, "NNNoooooooooooo!" and snatches the book from my hands. "That's MY DIARY mom and it is PRIVATE!" WHAT? I think. WHAT? How did we get here so fast? Don't I have at least 7 more years before things are PRIVATE? I crack a smile and hand the book to her - ever so curious about what a 5 year old considers "private", but determined to model my respect for her so-called "privacy". Minutes later, she has clearly forgotten this exchange, because she is eager to whisper her secret diary entry to me. She flips to the now famous page and I read about a boy. This is the boy that she has been close to for a year - and the feelings are mutual, on and off. She writes, "_____ and I are best friends. We used to be in love. I don't know if we still are. Do you?" WHAT??? WHAT??? Who is this old soul in my 5 year old's body and why do I feel like I am having an asthma attack?? HEE HEE
This is not the first note about this boy. I have an entire legal pad of love letters she wrote to him - most said, "I don't want to lose you"...the week before she shared with me that he used to love her, but now he loved _____. She told me that this girl was "younger". YOUNGER?? THAN WHAT?? You're 5. You're FIVE!!!!! Where does she get this and how did we get here? I don't know whether to laugh or cry, so I laugh. It is moments like these that I am smacked with the fact that it doesn't just seem like time flies, it TRULY does fly. Soon, the boy from the legal pad notes will be the boy standing on my doorstep, asking to see my dear daughter. Laugh or cry?? Maybe both... I am convinced it won't be long before she says something that causes CJ to fall to the floor and not get up for awhile...
In the meantime, we breath, and laugh, and breath some more and savor the 5 year-old "romance" that is a manifestation of my daughter's beautiful heart . It is funny, though. I have come to the realization that my kids are funnier than most boring adults - thank God for laughter....
The stuff that comes out of my kids' mouths astonishes me. I suppose I should count myself fortunate that through either sheer luck, coincidence, or maybe some decent parenting, my kids' humor is still pretty clean.
Still, their sense of humor amazes me. I don't even think they know they are funny, which, in turn, makes them twice as funny. Half the time, it isn't so much what they are saying as much as it is that they are saying it at all which makes it so funny. Allow me to explain...
One of my favorite "Aidan stories" happened a few months ago...it was 5:30 am on a Monday morning. Anyone who knows me, knows I can't tie my shoes at that hour, let alone be an effective parent. Yet, I persist to try - even at that hour. We had had a typical "birthday party from hell weekend" - 4 in one weekend. This weekend yielded hundreds of miles on my car (which just kills me these days as I watch my gas gauge go down!), and FOUR GOODIE BAGS filled with pounds of sugar - quite literally. So, picture it - there I am - 5:30 am - attempting to find my face enough to put makeup on. Down the stairs runs my beautiful little boy who DID NOT inherit my love of sleeping. I try not to punish him for my inability to be awake at this hour. He prods me about having candy. "Can I have this?", "How about this?", "This would be yummy." I muster all the patience within me and continue to tell him, "Maybe after dinner." He finally looks at me and dejectedly says, "Ya know Mom, I don't think you're funny and no one else thinks you're funny either!" I find myself kneeling next to him saying, "Aidan, everyone thinks I'm funny!!!" As if I am having an out of body experience, I suddenly have a birds-eye view of this scene and am consumed with the overwhelming feeling that I should "get a grip!!"
Last week, CJ and I were talking on the cell phone. Aidan was with CJ. We lost reception and CJ was saying, "hello? hello? (can you hear me now??)" to which my precocious son replied, "maybe she hung up. Maybe she just didn't want to hear it anymore!" I'm starting to think my son knows things that I don't....
Kayleigh is a delight unto herself and is embodying the pre-pre-teen movement! I keep saying, "She's 5!!!!! WHAT are we doing talking about this??? A few days ago, she brought me a spiral-bound notebook the other day to show me a picture she had drawn. I started to gently flip through the pages in the book. She screams, "NNNoooooooooooo!" and snatches the book from my hands. "That's MY DIARY mom and it is PRIVATE!" WHAT? I think. WHAT? How did we get here so fast? Don't I have at least 7 more years before things are PRIVATE? I crack a smile and hand the book to her - ever so curious about what a 5 year old considers "private", but determined to model my respect for her so-called "privacy". Minutes later, she has clearly forgotten this exchange, because she is eager to whisper her secret diary entry to me. She flips to the now famous page and I read about a boy. This is the boy that she has been close to for a year - and the feelings are mutual, on and off. She writes, "_____ and I are best friends. We used to be in love. I don't know if we still are. Do you?" WHAT??? WHAT??? Who is this old soul in my 5 year old's body and why do I feel like I am having an asthma attack?? HEE HEE
This is not the first note about this boy. I have an entire legal pad of love letters she wrote to him - most said, "I don't want to lose you"...the week before she shared with me that he used to love her, but now he loved _____. She told me that this girl was "younger". YOUNGER?? THAN WHAT?? You're 5. You're FIVE!!!!! Where does she get this and how did we get here? I don't know whether to laugh or cry, so I laugh. It is moments like these that I am smacked with the fact that it doesn't just seem like time flies, it TRULY does fly. Soon, the boy from the legal pad notes will be the boy standing on my doorstep, asking to see my dear daughter. Laugh or cry?? Maybe both... I am convinced it won't be long before she says something that causes CJ to fall to the floor and not get up for awhile...
In the meantime, we breath, and laugh, and breath some more and savor the 5 year-old "romance" that is a manifestation of my daughter's beautiful heart . It is funny, though. I have come to the realization that my kids are funnier than most boring adults - thank God for laughter....
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Mother's Day
I received an email this morning from one of my oldest friends telling me she had decided to start a blog. I know a lot of people with blogs and it was never really anything I considered doing since it fell into the "where would I find time for that?" category. She said that one of the reasons she had decided to start was that all the daily wonders of motherhood were going unrecorded - now that was something I could relate to! Maybe this was something I should consider...so, here I am - starting a blog....who would have thought? Today seemed like a good day - without further ado...
I was awakened on this Mother's Day by the person who made me a mom - my almost 6 (going on 16) year-old, Kayleigh. "Mommy!", she whispered about 3 inches from my nose. "Mommy!", louder, but still a whisper. "MOMMY!" - persistent. She was desperate to kick off the Mother's Day festivities that she had been planning for a week. I opened one eye in time to see my fabulous husband ushering the kids downstairs so I could sleep a bit. I roll over to look at the clock - 6:03 am - ARE YOU KIDDING?? They don't wake up this early on Christmas!!! The kids have been secretly planning the details of this day and have done all they could to keep it secret. All week it was, " I can't tell you what we're doing, but let's just say, you won't be eating dinner at home!" The kids planned each detail and my darling hisband just did what he was told...they even planned the breakfast menu! Where do they come up with this???
I crawl out of bed and wander downstairs to find them intently coloring my card. The kids look at me with a combination of excitement that I am awake and the party can start and disappointment that I have "caught" them with the card. I don't make it off the stairs before I am swallowed up in a rush of hugs and kisses and screams, "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!"
They excitedly bring me all of the lovely handmade gifts that they have lovingly created at school. Aidan proudly shows me the card and magnet he made and Kayleigh brings me the little plant she had grown and a little book all about "Kayleigh & Mom"....these are the cool moments that make being a mom so worthwhile... having saved what she considers the "best for last", she brings me "Mom coupons". The coupons inform me that, upon my request, K will "carry my Stop & Shop bags", "mack her bed (yes, "mack"), help me coke (cook), and my personal favorite, "give me a big hug."
The day progresses with lots of time on the deck, a perfect sunny day, overlooking the lake. CJ and I actually got to enjoy coffee together as the kids enjoyed a game inside. I came in to find them hitting beach balls at eachother. I asked a silly question - "Are you being safe?". You know what they say about asking silly questions......K looked at me and slyly replied, "Safe enough." I was reminded 100 times today why I am so lucky to be a mom- they smiled at least that many times and that's all it takes.
I was awakened on this Mother's Day by the person who made me a mom - my almost 6 (going on 16) year-old, Kayleigh. "Mommy!", she whispered about 3 inches from my nose. "Mommy!", louder, but still a whisper. "MOMMY!" - persistent. She was desperate to kick off the Mother's Day festivities that she had been planning for a week. I opened one eye in time to see my fabulous husband ushering the kids downstairs so I could sleep a bit. I roll over to look at the clock - 6:03 am - ARE YOU KIDDING?? They don't wake up this early on Christmas!!! The kids have been secretly planning the details of this day and have done all they could to keep it secret. All week it was, " I can't tell you what we're doing, but let's just say, you won't be eating dinner at home!" The kids planned each detail and my darling hisband just did what he was told...they even planned the breakfast menu! Where do they come up with this???
I crawl out of bed and wander downstairs to find them intently coloring my card. The kids look at me with a combination of excitement that I am awake and the party can start and disappointment that I have "caught" them with the card. I don't make it off the stairs before I am swallowed up in a rush of hugs and kisses and screams, "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!"
They excitedly bring me all of the lovely handmade gifts that they have lovingly created at school. Aidan proudly shows me the card and magnet he made and Kayleigh brings me the little plant she had grown and a little book all about "Kayleigh & Mom"....these are the cool moments that make being a mom so worthwhile... having saved what she considers the "best for last", she brings me "Mom coupons". The coupons inform me that, upon my request, K will "carry my Stop & Shop bags", "mack her bed (yes, "mack"), help me coke (cook), and my personal favorite, "give me a big hug."
The day progresses with lots of time on the deck, a perfect sunny day, overlooking the lake. CJ and I actually got to enjoy coffee together as the kids enjoyed a game inside. I came in to find them hitting beach balls at eachother. I asked a silly question - "Are you being safe?". You know what they say about asking silly questions......K looked at me and slyly replied, "Safe enough." I was reminded 100 times today why I am so lucky to be a mom- they smiled at least that many times and that's all it takes.
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