Sunday, May 10, 2020

Not every Mother’s Day

Not every Mother’s Day starts with your kids bringing you breakfast in bed. 

Not every Mother’s Day includes a sweet picnic in the park. 

Not every Mother’s Day contains an idyllic bike ride through town. 

Not every Mother’s Day ends with couch cuddles, eating ice cream and watching a favorite movie. 

Some Mother’s Days just sorta stink. 

Sometimes there are stubborn refusals to wear closed-toed shoes on a hike. 

Sometimes there are tantrums about the proposal to walk in “those” woods instead of “our” woods. 

Sometimes there’s an explosion of frustration from a parent who's been at home with their kids 24-hours a day for nine weeks straight and can’t take another minute of the complaints. 

Sometimes all of those moments are so draining, that the mother desperately seeks the reset button. 

Why is that idyllic Mother’s Day so elusive sometimes? 

This afternoon, as I was sitting alone in my room trying to figure out how our day managed to get so off track, Grace arrived with a Mother’s Day card. It was decorated with pink, purple and yellow and said:

Happy Mother’s Day. I know today has not been the best, but if this day were the best, you wouldn’t be a mother!

I hope this letter will cheer you up. I spent 15 minutes on the cover, so you better like it.

I love you 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,001. 

*Pink stands for how much I love you
*Purple stands for how much we love K-State
*Yellow stands for how you brighten my day even if it’s bad. You are my sunshine. 

My heart immediately warmed. I smiled and thought “touché, little one.” 

Sometimes, despite all desires for something picture-perfect, life and kids do their own things and you do the best you can to make it through your day. Being a mom is one of the most brutal and beautiful roles and I am honestly so grateful for all the days — even the ones that sorta stink. Even the ones that really stink. 

Happy mother’s day to ALL the mothers out there: those that are no longer with us, those who have experienced the loss no mother should, those who have chosen to nurture something other than humans, those who are yearning for motherhood and those who spend your days arguing with your kids over which type of shoe to wear. 

No pictures were snapped today, so I’ll include some from our idyllic bike ride last weekend. 



1 comment:

Katie said...

happy mother day mom love ya
p.s. sorry about today
Grace