Motherhood
I, like many, tend to take a moment near Mother’s Day to reflect upon the people in our lives who made us mamas and I like to thank them appropriately.
I thank my mama from whom I inherited my creativity, my love of books, my distaste for pickles, my charm, my wit and my modesty. My mom and dad made my childhood magical and so full of love. Because of my mother, my biggest dream was to be a stay-at-home mom. I yearned to provide the same creativity and laughter-filled days that my siblings and I experienced so many of.
I thank my husband for knocking me up twice, giving me two beautiful boys. From day one he has shown me the same kind of cherished adoration that my dad always showed my mom. That might be why I fell for him so fast and proposed to him after only six months of dating. We have two boys who remind me every day in different ways of both their daddy and granddaddy, and that is something for which I am endlessly grateful. If my children, nephews and future nieces/nephews are anything like their remarkable grandparents the world will be a brighter place.
And I thank my sons on Mother’s Day and every day for being funny, playful, challenging and loving me despite my constant state of “scrambled brains” and mama imperfections. Not every day is going to be the best day ever. The important thing is that we breathe, regroup, forgive and move forward on a positive path.
Love to all the mamas out there. Moms to fur babies. Moms to photosynthetic plant babies. And moms to people babies from your womb or another. You are doing a good job and I love you!
“Oh YEAH!” or “Oh NO!”
We are entering into the few weeks of the year when I have very strong, but opposing emotions about the upcoming summer break. The largest percent of me is singing “Hell, yes! Summer is coming!” And I’m daydreaming of calm mornings spent in pj’s, morning outings to whatever playground strikes our fancy, a fun annual child-free friend dinner I just booked, lunch and play dates with friends and cousins, afternoons at the pool, two 1-week summer day camps, family adventures and the beach.
The slightly less large percent of me is staring at my calendar as the remaining school days tick by (16 left for us, by the way…) and whispering, “Oh shit. Summer is coming.” And I’m mentally trying to stockpile my zen as I prepare for endless sunscreen applications, sand in hair/shoes/clothes/my car/the house, the “morning work” we will need to complete 5 days a week to keep reading/writing/math fresh, the bug bites, the long/hot/humid days when I just want to lay in the hammock and read but I can’t because the kids are rough-housing, showering the sweaty/sunscreen covered bodies every.single.day.
I doubt I’m alone in this emotional juxtaposition, but I’m feeling it majorly as we speed mercilessly towards the final school day just before Memorial Day weekend. And we generally do fine hanging out together as a mom & sons threesome until about mid-August. That seems to be when the boys grow tired of me, tired of each other, tired of the pool, etc. But by then there are only two weeks until school ramps up again and we have a beach trip and my littlest one’s birthday & party to look forward to along with the search for new sneakers and a fresh sock supply. This summer we are anticipating traveling elsewhere in the southeast on the day before school begins to view the total solar eclipse, so that’s a bonus side trip not in our usual routine (or timeframe).
So, whichever mindset you have, we shall do what we always do. Drink coffee and be awesome! We’ll make it through together.
