Mother’s Day is almost over, but I am still considering this a Mother’s Day post. Yesterday, I was wiping Sarah Amelia’s face and my thumb accidentally poked her eye.  She seemed fine, but after taking a walk outside she had a red-mark under her eye, which looked like a mosquito bite.  This morning my beaming and sweet little Sarah looked like she had been in a boxing match.  UGH!  I think it will be ok, but still!  Aside from Sarah Amelia having a swollen and black-and-blue eye, my day has

Me and the girls. Sarah’s right eye matches her dress and Rachel looks like she can’t wait to put her PJs on!

been pretty nice. Ms. Dolores (the children’s minister at church) had a little service for the moms followed by the sweetest and most lovely tea imaginable! The kids and some of the dads were servers! The rest of Sunday was pretty standard stuff – I took Rachel to gymnastics and went to work and then running during her practice. I am going to be very honest – Mother’s Day (I am shortening to MD) has never been on the tip-top of my holiday priorities.  Basically, I am selfish.  and lazy. and forgetful.  However, I do try to do the minimum, which is phone calls and cards  to Mom and my mother-in-law.  If I am really inspired, I send extra pictures of kids or even a memory book listing all of our favorite memories of our mothers.  Yes, I did that a few years ago! This year, it was the minimum.  What can I say, change is difficult for the selfish, lazy, and forgetful!  It’s not that I don’t feel bad, because I do.  It’s just that both my mom and my mother-in-law aren’t the type of ladies that demand acknowledgement. Let me start with my mom, Brenda.  When I was young, I never really wanted to be a mother, because I knew that it was such hard work.  Mom was either cooking (food that included vegetables that her, dad, or Grandma had grown), picking up toys so we could walk through the house, washing/folding/putting away clothes (or sewing the clothes that she would soon be washing).  I never, and I truthfully say never, think that Mom bought herself clothing.  At least, I never witnessed it.  I think that my mom sacrificed purchasing any modern clothing from the years 1979-1984 – in ’84 she was pregnant with  John so that required some new apparel.  I think there was another clothing drought between 1986-1990. When Mom went back to her job as a social worker, she came home and did the following: quickly fix dinner, wash a few loads of laundry, pick up kids from activities, and finally collapse on the couch with a cigarette in time for Larry King Live.  Totally exhausting.  To make it worse, I was demanding and whinny. (By the way, my siblings were perfect.)  Even at the peak of adolescent selfishness, I knew that maybe I was pushing Mom a little too much.  Fast forward 20-something years, and I am getting my up-and-comings!  I don’t collapse on the couch with a cigarette and a new episode of Larry King.  I collapse with a tub of peanut butter and Modern Family.

For obvious reasons, I haven’t know my mother-in-law, Hannah, as long as my own mother.  I would guess that it is very safe to say that she has also made many sacrifices for her two boys and her grandchildren.  I will never forget her telling me that her whole world was her two boys. In my whole-heart, I wish that I could effortlessly and confidently cook an entire meal like Hannah.  Her cooking is a pure expression of love. It reminds me of my Grandma Wooton feeding all of the family. Never in a million lifetimes could I approach that!  I love my two beautiful daughters more than my own existence, but if I quickly warm food in the microwave, that is homecooking in my book.  As a matter of fact, Bryan does more meal preparation than me! Well, it is 10:21 central time on MD.

If I post now, I can technically call this a MD post! For Mom and Hannah – here is Rachel and Sarah (with her lovely purple eye) wishing you both a Happy Mother’s Day.  We do love you both so much!  A million Hallmark cards in a million lifetimes could never say how much we love and appreciate you both!