These last couple years, Mothers’ Day has become THE number one day I’ve looked forward to most all year. I was trying to figure out why that is. And I realized it’s because every other holiday of the year, as a parent, is just MORE work. Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, even St. Patrick’s Day, just involve more on my to-dos to make the day special for the kids. And while my birthdays are a great chance to reflect on life, they usually go by a bit unnoticed or carry a bit of that, “Oh. My. Goodness. Where did the last six (or insert-your-kids’-ages-here) years go?” sort of wake-up call.
Last year was my first year with two kiddos, and I cannot tell you how much I anticipated this blessed Mama Day “holiday.” I had a list of wishes that I shared with my husband–nothing fancy, but a takeout meal from a certain restaurant or a bath without kids pounding at the door, that sort of thing. Unfortunately, with little ones, those seemingly simple wishes just don’t always happen. So, this Mother’s Day, I’ve set the expectation level very low. And I had this sudden thought this morning that as much as I’d love Mama Day to be all about getting my every wish granted, or at the very least not having to deal with the tantrums and poppy diapers of everyday life, maybe I can reframe the day. Maybe, just maybe, I can see it instead as a day for me to really stop and look at mamahood with new eyes. Perhaps this is my day to really recognize these amazing blessings. To laugh, instead of shout. To hug, instead of scold. To pause and really BE with my family and BE in the role of mama, instead of waiting for them to go to sleep so I can have my “me time.”
Does this mean I don’t still look forward to a day…someday…when I can get an honest to goodness nap or a day without any battles about getting in the car? Well, no. I still think that would be flipping awesome. But, until then, I’m gonna try to see this day for what it is. A day about embracing motherhood–spills, tears, messes, and all.
My friend sent me this article this morning, which cracked me up. I don’t love the website with all its annoying ads, but the cartoons are rather spot on. One of my favorite bits was this: “The slight downside with little kids is that Mothers’ Day is really about opening the cards and gifts. After that, it reverts to a normal Sunday, with the kids needing things from you.” Shannon Hale, of course, has some great thoughts on Mothers’ Day as well.
I also read this sweet article with responses from different mamas about what they would most want for Mamas’ Day. It got me thinking about what my “perfect” day would be like. And, as much as I adore my little munchkins, I gotta say that I would really just love for my kids to be able to hibernate safely for a day so I could catch up on stuff, get more than 3 hours of sleep in a row, go for a walk, read a book, spend time with my husband, work on family albums, have some quiet to think, that kind of thing. Maybe they could hibernate for a whole week…? (And all of this, of course, goes completely opposite from all my waxing poetic above about reframing Mothers’ Day, but there it is.)
Anyway, Happy Mamas’ Day to all you lovely mamas! Hopefully we can all find at least one blissful moment today to take a quiet breath and remember how very blessed we are.
P.S. Being someone who is very hung up on getting punctuation correct when my brain is able to, I have always been in conflict about the placement of the apostrophe in Mothers’ Day. Some say it isn’t needed at all, because the day doesn’t actually belong to mothers. I have to disagree. Anyway, above, I’ve tried to use Mother’s Day when referring to my own personal experience with the day and Mothers’ Day when referring to it as a general day for all mamas.