on mother's day.

i have vivid memories of mother's day growing up. one of four children, we definitely took the day (morning) seriously. we woke up extra early to ensure that my mom had a seven course breakfast in bed by about 6:30am. and i am SURE that we never did the dishes afterwards. by i always remember my mom being grateful. grateful that we all got up and cooked our specialties and placed them on a tray and brought them to her bedroom, along with coffee, milk, orange juice, water, fresh cut azaleas, homemade cards and presents. even if it was before the sun came up.

i never really dreamed of being a mother. really, i didn't. now i am the proud mother of three. three. its a magic number, yes it is. but it is also A LOT. some people make it look easy. i do NOT. all the more reason to celebrate, right?

today was quite lovely. my wonderful mom and dad drove up to have mother's day brunch with me and my beautiful baby sister, who now has her own beautiful baby boy (and only a month postpartum can fit into her cute skinny jeans!!!). my kids were mildly well behaved at breakfast, and even allowed my to quickly browse through a few stores and look for a case for my new iphone! yes, i have joined the 21st century and now have a smart phone- if only i were smart enough to use it. we then fished in the pond behind my house, went to the playground, went for a family walk, had a delicious dinner of kraft macaroni (with sides of blueberries and pistachios) and played outside until the sun set. wonderful huh? it really was.

i remember when i was working (outside of the home, that is). if you were a smoker, you got to take a smoke break every hour and go outside and enjoy a cigarette. i was not a smoker (although my mom can attest that a few times i tried to be) but i was jealous. i kind of wished i was as i watched the same crew of people leave the office and go outside and stand around enjoying the breeze (and their smoke) while i sat at my desk. today i had a little of that jealousy. as we walked around our subdivision we passed mom after mom going on their mothers day solo run. i wished i was a runner. i wanted to be alone. on mother's day! am i a bad person? on the day that celebrates that fact that i birthed three marvelous wonders of the world, i wanted to spend the day without them. i wanted to peruse anthropologie for hours, finding something more fashionable to wear than seven year old jeans and ribbed tank tops. i wanted to listen to jeff buckley really loud and not care about the fact that the songs may be inappropriate for young ears. but really i wanted to remember why i have children, because after a few hours alone, i miss that insanity and chaos of being surrounded by them.

but my children are thoughtful. they don't want me to miss them. they wanted to remind me that i am lucky to have them, and i am lucky to be able to stay home with them every day and make them the people that i want them to be. and i am grateful. really i am.

happy mother's day to all you special mothers out there. i hope yours was as good as mine!