Mother's Day Then and Now

As a child I was always so proud to show my Mom how special she was on Mother's Day. I would make her breakfast, a homemade gift, and then we all went out as a family. It was perfect; just what any Mom would want. At least that's the way it was in my mind. It was really more like this. I would wake up super early to make breakfast. But I couldn't find the pans I needed and would wake my Mom up simply clanging dishes together in the cupboards trying to find the right pan. Then, I wouldn't be able to find some very needed ingredient and would go into my parent's room to ask Dad where the necessary ingredient was. Mom would always pretend to be asleep, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't. Then I usually broke a dish or three. And right about then, the house would fill with smoke and the fire alarm sounded. Ok this only happened once, but it did happen. Time to wake up Mom. Breakfast is ready. 

After powering down a burned breakfast, my Mom cleaned up my mess in the kitchen while I got dressed. But she never complained. She always thanked me for the wonderful breakfast. Before we left, I would give her my gift. She always looked so happy to receive my fine jewelry. She LOVED wearing my pasta necklaces dripping with glue and glitter. At least that's that what she had me believe. In reality, she vacuumed everyday for a week just to get the fallen glitter out of the carpet. I'm pretty sure she had to throw away a shirt or two because of the glue. Then we would go out to do something as a family, which usually meant something fun for me; the park, the beach, etc. Finally, after a day of play, we would come home, and Mom would cook dinner. At the end of the day, Mom always thanked me for such a wonderful Mother's Day. 

It wasn't until I became a Mother that I realized how much my Mom put up with on Mother's Day. I just had my dream Mother's Day (don't tell my Mom, she'll be jealous). My hubby woke up early with our baby so I could sleep in. I got to sleep until 10am! When does that ever happen? Then I leisurely got dressed and opened a wonderful gift. My little toddler got me a digital camcorder. Not sure where he got the money, but it was an awesome gift. He even signed his name to my card ;)

Finally we went to visit the Grandparents where we had a wonderful meal brought in from a local restaurant. And I had the best of both worlds. I got to be with my little guy and rest at the same time while he played with his Grandparents. 

What a wonderful Mother's Day. But I still have a lot to learn from my Mom. She put herself aside, on her own day just to boost my self esteem and my sense of giving. She put on a smile at my attempt to do nice things for her, even though it made more work. She even wore my pasta jewelry out of the house to show how much she appreciated my attempt at getting her a gift. That is the true power of a Mother. Even on Mother's Day she thought of me before herself. Kids can teach you a lot, but this was a lesson I learned from my Mom... it just didn't register in my brain until after I had a kid.