Need Some Ideas For Mother's Day?

Mother's day is May 11th, and mothers everywhere will be expecting, well...something.  Some sign that they are appreciated, loved, adored, etc.  What mothers expect varies, from being allowed to sleep late to a day where the toilet seat is left down more than up.  Mothers aren't usually picky--as long as a gift is from the heart, we are going to love it.

But perhaps you've purchased flowers for the last few years, and you'd like to do something different.  Maybe you've done the 'breakfast in bed' routine too many times, and you're looking for a new and improved Mother's Day present.  I am here to help.  I cannot possibly be the only mom who wants these particular items.  They'd be welcome on any day, actually. 

1. A clean house.   Moms are perpetually cleaning the house, and I'm sorry to say that it gets irritating fast.  Nothing is more annoying for me than finishing the last load of laundry...and finding dirty socks on the floor under a chair.  Or filling up the dishwasher, starting it up...and locating a coffee cup upstairs.  Nothing is ever finished in the housework war.  We moms would love to have our house clean, with no hidden dirty items, for at least a day or two. 

2.  Alone time.  Moms never get a moment's peace.  Most days, we can't even go to the bathroom without being interrupted by a child pounding on the door.  While we love our children dearly, we moms need some alone time, a couple of hours to read, or watch our favorite movie, or even just to take a nap.

3.  A spa weekend.  Spa weekends are all about pampering.  Massages, facials, thick soft robes, quiet...what's not to love?  Spas tend to be in out of the way places, like the mountains, where the air is clear and crisp and not filled with the smell of boy sweat and stale Cheerios.  Spas are for resting and regenerating, before returning to those daily battles with the world.  We need that sometimes.  

4. A mani/pedi.  If a spa weekend is out of the realm of financial possibility, I understand completely.  We are all living paycheck to paycheck these days, unless we are in the 1%, and that means things like food are a priority, and trips to fancy spas are out.  Still, moms need a little pampering now and then, and a mani/pedi is just the ticket.  Most of us will settle for a foot massage.

5. Homecooking.  Moms occasionally want some time off from cooking, just like anyone else.  Having someone else put dinner on the table would be a pleasant surprise.  Spaghetti is a relatively easy meal that kids can whip up with some adult supervision, for instance.  Greet mom at the door with a glass of her favorite red wine, and let her put her feet up until supper is ready.


So.  I have just given you five ideas for a Mother's Day treat that will be very appreciated, and not all of them cost an arm and a leg.  Pick two or three, and your mom will be happy.  When Mom is happy, the entire family is happy, is what I always say. 

Any other ideas to add?

Punting A MouseRat for Yardage

After receiving Mother's Day gifts from Zane(homemade pictures are the best!), and a promissory note for a mani/pedi from Larry(he wasn't sure where I would want to go, so he left that part blank), I walked outside to find cat Zena and dog Maisy with their present for me. For those not keeping score, Zena the cat adopted Maisy the dog when Maisy was a puppy, and Zena does her very best to raise Maisy to be a good cat. Maisy was flinging said present about the yard and trying to catch it while Zena looked on approvingly, as any doting mother would do. 

And I sighed heavily and went back into the house. 

Not to hide under the kitchen table, but to get my shoes(because mouse guts on bare feet=projectile vomiting) and an oven mitt.  We've thrown many carcasses over the fence these past couple of years; Zena is an excellent mouser, and the fields behind our house are full of the critters.

I marched back out to locate the poor dead thing.  Zena was licking a paw, and pretending that she had no idea where the dead creature was, but I wasn't fooled by her feigned nonchalance.  Maisy offered to help me locate the remains, tail wagging, and escorted me right to what may have been a small rat or a large mouse.  I can never tell, so...MouseRat it is.  I leaned over to pick up the carcass just as Maisy nudged the critter with her nose...and the MouseRat ran right onto my foot. 

There's an obscure law that states that all women must scream loudly when in contact with any rodent, and I am pleased to say that I followed that law to the letter.  I also jumped and sort of punted the poor MouseRat about fifteen yards.  Puppy-brained Maisy thought that we were playing, and immediately grabbed the MouseRat and flung it downfield for twenty yards and raced after it.  She picked up the MouseRat and spiked it.  I winced as the MouseRat bounced a couple of times. 

When I finally was able to catch up to Maisy,  I just bent over the MouseRat and watched it.  There were two reasons for this: I had to catch my breath, and I wanted to make sure the MouseRat was dead.   I looked closely, and saw movement of the ribcage.  Alive, then, but likely shook up.  I slipped the oven mitt on and grabbed for the tail.  It took me a couple of tries, because I'm a girl and all girls are genetically squeamish about rodents.  I finally got the MouseRat by the tail.  It squirmed and wiggled in that completely icky way that made me want to just drop it and run.  Yet I was determined to get it out of my yard.  I  lifted MouseRat above the head of Maisy, who began jumping up and down.  She wanted me to throw the MouseRat, of course, which I would not do. At that point, Zena decided that the MouseRat was interesting again, since it was still moving about, so she made her way over to Maisy and I.

I walked as quickly as I could, holding a MouseRat by the tail above my head, with a jumping dog and a curious cat in tow.  I made it to our back fence, and found a broken slat.  I put my hand through the slat and let go of the MouseRat in a spot where it could rest a bit before heading back out into the field.  I turned, happy that I had had a successful "rescue".  Even if the MouseRat died, it would die on the other side of the fence, and not in my yard.

Sort of. 

Zena was sitting on the fence, tail twitching, her gaze zeroed in on MouseRat.  Maisy was watching Zena, ready to move.  I again sighed heavily, rolled my eyes, and grabbed Zena off the fence.  It was a chancy thing, as she did not want to go and dug her claws into the fence, but finally I was able to extricate her.  Maisy followed Zena, and into the house we went.  

This was before I'd even finished my cup of coffee!

Happy Mother's Day

My son was on the soccer field, eye on the ball, in a race to gain control of the game.  He was able to kick the ball ahead of his opponent, and he ran ahead of the melee on the field.  When he was near the goal, he kicked...and he scored!   I clapped and cheered, one of a multitude of mothers and fathers. Zane's father was cheering from the coach's bench, but my son's eyes searched for me. 

Zane looked right at me, smiled...then he raised his hand to give me a thumbs up.  Everyone on the sidelines laughed, but I raised my hand to salute my boy with a thumbs up of my own. We had a little mother-son moment.

It was perfect.

Soccer has mostly been about my son and his father. They watch it on television, they practice in the back yard, they discuss strategy(well, Larry discusses...Zane points out bugs or birds outside). Sometimes I've wondered if they even knew that I was there!  So it was wonderful to find that my son does know that I am there.  That touched my heart, right in the soft spot. 

So happy Mother's day to all the unsung heroes out there, who do little things, like show up at soccer games or buy the special Spiderman band-aids or give extra special hugs.  Your children DO notice!

Happy Mama's Day!

I was going to be a Mama. I knew this in my bones when I was just an itty-bitty. This thought was granite in my heart, unchanging over the years. I would be Mama to as many little boys and girls as I could, and we would live happily ever after.

There was only one time that I lost faith in that Dream of Mama. That was on December 8, 2003, when I miscarried at nineteen weeks. A beautiful, perfectly formed girl that I had already named Zoe, because that name means life. In another cruel twist, my daughter, whose name means life, almost took me with her.

As I recovered, my Dream of Mama seemed to be nothing but ashes covering me and my whole world. All was gray, for I had fallen into shadow.

But that Dream of Mama was not dead. It was still whispering to me, still written in my heart. The ashes in my life blew away and faith in the Dream of Mama was somehow renewed. Much would be required of me this time, and much could go wrong for this Dream of Mama. Somehow I knew this pregnancy would be successful, and it was. Well, until two days short of 32 weeks, when both Zane and I almost died again. But the Dream of Mama was not to be denied, but fulfilled. And now I have my beautiful child, my boy. My Dream of Mama came true.

Would I love to have more than one child? Yes, I would. Very much. But my body will not survive another pregnancy, somehow I know this. It's not likely that someone will give me a child, either. So I just have to learn to accept it. Because I truly am happy with what I have: a loving husband, a ridiculously healthy and happy son, and a family that is there when it counts. All I need is to win the lottery and then I am set!

When I was younger, I would be fascinated by pregnant bellies, I would imagine one day being pregnant, my belly full of dreams.

Now that I am wiser, on this Mother's day, pregnant bellies make me think of who I've lost...and who I have gained. My life is richer now that my Dream of Mama came true.

Okay, I am sitting here bawling my fool head off, so I am going to stop all this for now. I promise to try and be funny tomorrow.