My REAL Mother's Day

I heard a woman say how much she hated Mother's Day because everyone told stories of their perfect mom's who never raised her voice and made all their prom dresses and always had a fresh loaf of bread waiting for them. She said she always felt like a failure on Mother's Day. Well, here's a look at how my Mother's Day actually went:

Woke up at 9, had a beautiful vase of roses waiting for me in the kitchen along with an already made breakfast of french toast, sausage and chocolate milk. I first helped myself to a few nibbles of the chocolate cake I bought for myself! The kids (most) had given me hand made cards and coupons and fun stuff like that. I loved all of it.

After breakfast, clean up assignments were made. A short time later, I went to see how things were going. What I walked into was Dalin loading the dishwasher in a very inefficient manner with a huge puddle of water between the sink and the dishwasher. I tried to show him how to get this done more quickly with less mess. As I turned to leave, I notice Brooklyn stooped down cleaning up the 5 broken eggs she just knocked to the ground. I gasp as I see her walk from the pile of mess to the garbage can with egg dripping the whole way. I yell to her to bring the garbage over this way because she was making a bigger mess and turn around to find Bo tromping right through the broken eggs. I grab him and yell for him to stop! As I'm trying to clean his feet, I ask impatiently, "what are you doing?!" He says he didn't notice 5 broken eggs in the middle of the floor. At this point I remove myself from the kitchen to take a breather.

Because we all had worn our Sunday clothes the previous day to the funeral, I suspected some might not be as clean as they should be. Stephen says he started a load with his in it. We have just over an hour before church starts and he just started it. In trying to make a long story short, he started it on the longest wash cycle there is and then was mad that I tried to teach him about the speed cycle. "I know how to do it!" is what I get. I fix it and go about getting ready for church.

I had slipped Bo's clothes into the wash with Stephen's. I went to get them out only to find the dryer hanging open with damp clothes hanging half way out. Stephen had gotten his and just left the dryer in mid cycle. I removed the soaking wet jeans he had put in with the whites and restarted it hoping it would be dry in the next 10 minutes. In the meantime, I wanted Bo to get his hair, teeth, socks and shoes on so we could throw his clothes on and leave. Well, Bo didn't want to. So it was a matter of pulling the dead weight off the ground to comb his hair and wash his face. The whole time with pouting lips and threats of spankings. We arrived at church 2 minutes late.

After an enjoyable sacrament meeting, Chelsey showed up (she went to a single's ward) and informed me we needed to leave right now to get her to her roommates house so they could leave back to Flagstaff. I wasn't thrilled seeming how church wasn't over. She had been a crying mess all weekend so my irritation with this turn of events brought on more tears. We left, packed her up and headed into town.... with an empty gas tank. Yes, my thoughtful daughters drove around all weekend and left me with an empty tank. We got gas and went along our way. As we get closer to the gas station we are meeting at, the girl tells Chelsey that she is running late and that the other boy they are taking (who lives farther than we do) hasn't even left yet. So, I take her to my mom's so she's not sitting on a sidewalk for 45 minutes alone. As I had assumed when this all went down, I could have finished church and still gotten her there in plenty of time.

After church, Glade made mac and cheese just as I had requested. Of course, I prefaced it with more chocolate cake. Around 5 Katy insisted on taking a nap. I laid down with her only to be constantly interrupted by the screaming of a six year old who was being terribly mistreated by his brothers. "It's not fair! I wanted that one!" Yes, Beyblades were now the source of tears and yelling and slammed doors. I gave up the thought of a nap and went to try to establish peace in the land (and get more cake). My mom called so we talked for awhile until she needed to leave. I called Joanne and wished her a happy Mother's Day and talked with her for a bit as well.

Now I was getting tired and really ready to just crawl into bed with my book. Oh, I forgot to mention...the night before, I think I got bit by something on my head. I spent the whole day with a headache of shooting pain through my scalp. It was a little freaky. Anyway, I took some Advil and started to head to bed. Oops, there was Katy, still asleep in my bed at 8 pm. I changed her into PJ's and tucked her into her own bed. Bo was ready so I kissed them both goodnight and headed back to my bed.

I realized I hadn't read the sort of long card Whitley had made me yet (it was 4 pages). I picked it up and started to read. She had written several quotes about mother's and then elaborated on why those quotes were special to her. It was beautiful. She related stories and advice I had given her that I cannot even remember but said she would never forget. It was really special and I will treasure it always. Not moments after reading that, I got a text from my sad and upset college girl. We texted for almost 45 minutes about life and why things weren't exactly as she would like them to be. Although I was tired and longing to lose myself in my book, it warmed my heart that as she lay crying in her bed three hours away, it was her Mom she wanted to talk to.

I only read a few pages before I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I turned out the light and lay reflecting on the day. My head still hurt, my tummy was protesting all the chocolate cake I ate, my house was a mess, dishes never got done, my daughter was sad a long way away and the kids upstairs were far from "getting ready for bed". But, amidst all the "real life", was a deep satisfaction. I'm a mom. My kids are healthy and strong and pretty much normal. My husband adores me. I was told one extra time that they love me. I'm pretty sure the word need was even slipped in there. It wasn't a perfect day of bliss and love and peace by any stretch, but it was a day that reminded me that I have it pretty darn good.