Happy Mother’s Day!

This was my first Mother’s Day with 5 children and it was lovely to have children of all ages in the house to help celebrate this special day.  It’s so fun to have a baby in the house again.  It is also sweet to see what some of the children come up with on their own or with help from teachers to honor mothers and it is enlightening to watch older children be helpful and self sufficient at a few things and realize that one step at a time the children go from needing mothers for virtually every single thing to being self reliant; a bittersweet success.

This is a collage of gifts I received, minus the begonia that is soaking up rainwater outside on my deck.  Homemade cards, hand drawn earrings, drawings, handprints, personalized poetry, store bought cards and a novel for a “quiet summertime read” (we’ll see about the quiet).  All were very thoughtful, but the best one was when I tucked Tristan into bed Sunday evening and I thanked him for helping to make my Mother’s Day such a nice one.  He smiled and replied that he hadn’t even argued with me once.  I was thoughtful and agreed with him, telling him that was probably the best gift of all.  I never believed my own mother with things like that but in these simple things now I see her wisdom.  An agreeable child and a little peace in the world is a beautiful and rare thing.

After returning home from church in the afternoon and getting Nathan settled into his bed for a nap, Rick got the charcoal out and we grilled corn on the cob in the husks while steaks, a rarity at our house, sizzled to well done perfection.  I busied myself finishing up a pot of mashed potatoes, declared by Tristan to be the best ones ever and quickly making some sauteed mushrooms with garlic.  For dessert, after watching the ever so humorous “The Singles Ward” and laughing as we remembered at least a few of the reasons why we are so glad to be married, we had a strawberry pie with whipped cream for dessert.  It is a great time for strawberries right now.  Rick really liked the crust, which I kind of made up and would describe it as shortbread-like.  It was very yummy and we ate the entire pie!

My Mom gave me a book a couple of years ago for Mother’s Day which I love to read to my children and I love to look at myself.  It contains a beautiful message of gratitude to the mother who gives so much.  Besides giving us life itself, our mothers give us the moon, the stars, laughter and love long before anyone else does if we’re lucky, and all the while they stand back giving us freedom and room to discover the world around us.  I am thankful to have had a strong beautiful mother to watch over me and teach me right from wrong, (even when it wasn’t very fun) and to give so much of herself to her family.  I realize that the only way I can ever hope to repay that type of devotion is to pass it on.  There is no other way to say “Thanks Mom… for Everything!”