So Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mummas out there!  Today is a special day for Mom's, where we will be able to sleep in (I only slept til 8:30 because I had too much to do today, and oddly enough, when I woke up, the house hadn't been cleaned by the boys - any of the 3).  We will be showered with Happy Mother's Day wishes (if they remember, any of the 3) hugs (I had to ask) and presents (they did sign their names on a card, which was adorable).  Then we will enjoy celebratory breakfasts, brunches, lunches and dinners with our families who appreciate all we do (even though sometimes it seems they don't realize all we do!)

OR

If you are like me, you have 72.5 loads of laundry that needs to be done, dust bunnies that are screaming my name, and at the very least, all the prep that comes along with these celebratory meals - getting the kiddos dressed, cleaned up, packed up and out the door.  On time.  But whatever, it's still a nice day and I got SO many Happy Mother's Day wishes from all of my Mom friends.  They get it.

My Mom will be upset that this pic only has one son in it!

Later in the day, we will celebrate Mother's Day with my Mom.  I will go to her house with the boys and shower her with (gently prompted) Mother's Day wishes and home made presents that she will be forced to display in her home from years of Mother Guilt.  You know the guilt.  The guilt that is making me keep every piece of paper my children have ever scribbled on, downstairs, in a messy pile, on top of the filing cabinet so that every time Chris goes down there to file or look for anything, he pulls the drawer and  mounds of "art" fall into the drawer, getting in his OCD way.  The Mom's Guilt is why my Spring time decorations include daffodils made of egg cartons hung on the wall, next to my Pottery Barn mirror, and a painting of Saturn hangs in the boys room on the wall, even though it doesn't "go" with the construction theme. 

I know most of it is really pride, but holding onto an old receipt because it has a red circle with lines on it, that sort of resembles a person, has got to be guilt.  How could I ever throw that away?  What if when the boys are 35, they ask about that "picture" they drew for me?

Anywho, since my Mom is a Mom, I'm sure she felt and still feels the same way, so up go the boys' Mother's Day gifts....

My Mom deserves the very best homemade childrens art.  She has been a fantastic Mother to me and a fabulous Nana to my boys.  I can't really say that she has "helped" me out with them for years, because really, she has been a huge part of raising them.  We have always seen her and my Dad 4, 5, 6 days per week, and when I went back to working part time, my Mom said she would watch them for me.   So as difficult as it may have seemed to not be home every day with them, leaving them with my Mom made it that much easier.  And the boys love it.  And her. 

So as I began writing this post, and thinking about my Mom, I started thinking about all of her wonderful qualities, like being patient, kind, and supportive.. 

You guys have gotten to know me a bit over the past year (Yes, believe it or not, my one year blog anniversary is in a few days!) and may have found yourself wondering who the hell raised me?  Or what the hell kind of Mother do I have, to let me call little kids "jerks" and criticize everyone I see?  Well, a verypatient one.  Imagine having to deal with me all of these years?  And she is always telling everyone that I have my Dad's sense of humor, which was really probably pretty annoying for her.  Poor woman.  And as horrified as she seemed at some of the bad jokes we made, I know for a fact she finds me hilarious.  I mean, doesn't everyone?  No?  Hmph.

But there's no denying she has a sense of humor herself.  I mean, I did have a bowl cut until 7th grade. She told me it was a Dorothy Hamill haircut, but I was no Dorothy Hamill.  I was a pale 7th grader, with a pretty decent moustache and a bowl cut.  Good one, Mom...Good one.

She also let me wear neon colored tube socks, pulled up to my knees with shorts.  Now that I have kids, I can see this was Mom Revenge.  I can picture her watching me walk to school like that, thinking, "yah, you walk your Dorothy Hamill ass to school with your socks like that.  We'll see if you talk back to ME again.  Ha!"

But really, she is a very kind person. In junior high school, she used to make me a bagel with cream cheese every morning to take to the bus stop.  I was never really hungry in the mornings, so I took her bagel, which was lovingly spread with the perfect amount of cream cheese and threw it in the bush on the corner at the bus stop.  It later became known as the Bagel Bush. 

She also used to take the time to make my lunches for me every day. Not your regular PB&J either.  She would make me a ham and cheese sub and toast it, so the cheese was melted and then add pickles and tomatoes to it.  Mmmmmmm, it was good.  But I didn't want my delicious ham and cheese sub.  Apparently I thought a bag of Doritos, a Strawberry Shortcake ice cream and one of those little round bowl/cups of lemonade with the foil top, sounded better.  So I would sell my lunches to some kids at school, and buy my Dorito Shortcake lunch.  If I didn't sell the lunch, me and my friend Larell would sneak it into Mr. Kaiser's science class and eat it in the back of the room, at like 9:30am. Oh, what I would give for those delicious lunches every day now!

When I moved into my first apartment, I lived with a lunatic. One night I woke up and saw this furry black face with whiskers, peering at me through my bedroom door.  It was Laverne.  The cat my psychotic roommate's friend dropped off at our apartment in the middle of the night. He somehow opened our door, and just left her there.  So, being the animal lover that I was, I ended up liking Laverne.  Then after living with us for a few months, she disappeared.  I asked my roommate about her, and she casually said, "Oh, I brought her to the animal shelter, I didn't want her anymore." 

I obviously burst into irrational tears, calling my Mom, telling her we just had to go get Laverne back.  $100 dollars later, my Mom had a new cat that she didn't want ...  who died a short while later of kidney disease.  But that's my Mom.  She takes in all sorts of stray ... animals, people....whoever.  And no, I will not give you her address, because I don't want all of you dumping your stray animals, kids, wicked old relatives and weird neighbors at her house.  She's got her hands full with us for now.  And her crazy new cat who we think might actually be a raccoon. But that's another story......

And what would I do, if she wasn't so supportive?  I told her I wanted to go get my Masters degree in counseling.  She was totally supportive.  I told her I wanted to be a stay at home Mom and not use my degree at all, and she was totally supportive.  I told her that now that my kids are older, I want to go back to work, but NOT help anyone, and would she please watch my kids while I go out and help no one, and she was totally supportive. 

And when it comes to parenting, she's my biggest supporter. When the boys were newborns and I called her at 6am on day 2, begging her to come over to help, she was there in 30 minutes.  Now, if I'm in a power struggle to the death with one son, where I should be the "parent" rather than another 4 years old, she watches me try to win, without a word.  If she sees me caving in and buying something for the boys, that I said I wouldn't buy, she'll step right up and pay for half (who am I kidding, she pays for it all!).  She reassures me every day, that I am doing a good job, by letting me know how well behaved my boys are, and what good listeners they are.

What I don't say enough though, is that while she thinks my boys are well behaved, and good listeners, it isn't because I am such a good parent.  It's because she is.  She is a fantastic Mom, who taught me how to be a good Mom.  In essence, she rocks, so I rock, so my kids rock.  We are all pretty freakin' fantastic...if I do say so myself.  I love you Mom, thank you for who you are and ALL that you do for us!  I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Moms out there!  I know how much you do for your families, and I know that you aren't appreciated enough!  I hope you enjoyed your day, and didn't have to work too much! 

And if you do have a spare moment, would you mind giving me a vote below (or 2, I'm at around # 76 now on Circle of Moms.  You can click this LINK and scroll down to the 70's and hit vote when you see me!)  I would really appreciate it.  And I mean really appreciate it.  Not like how your kids "appreciate" all you do.