My mom asked for the same thing every Mother's Day.
"A clean house and kids who don't fight."
We always laughed and then gave her something else. I don't think she ever got the one gift she always asked for. Sorry mom.
I guess time took care of that one. My sister's and I get along great now that we're all in our 30's live in three separate states and we no longer mess up her house, only our own. Now my mom gets a little teary around mother's day and talks about how much she misses us and wishes we could all just be together.
I guess that's a good lesson to me. I wish for a house that is perfectly ordered. I dream of the day I no longer consider my home and belongings a burden, but a joy. In the last week I have, once again, realized that I really want to enjoy my children and spend less time shuffling them from here to there. I'm not sure how that will be achieved but I think the impending summer will help.
So here's to Mother's: the one we're born with, the one we marry into, the mother's that we are and the mother's we will become. Thanks to all the extraordinary examples I see around me every day. Thank you to the good friends who assure me that I'm not a failure and that we really are all in this together.
I'll close with a little story my sister-in-law emailed me.
Enjoy!
So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died.
Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom. Well we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loveschapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.
Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood. We finally have the older one and and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth. And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.
"A clean house and kids who don't fight."
We always laughed and then gave her something else. I don't think she ever got the one gift she always asked for. Sorry mom.
I guess time took care of that one. My sister's and I get along great now that we're all in our 30's live in three separate states and we no longer mess up her house, only our own. Now my mom gets a little teary around mother's day and talks about how much she misses us and wishes we could all just be together.
I guess that's a good lesson to me. I wish for a house that is perfectly ordered. I dream of the day I no longer consider my home and belongings a burden, but a joy. In the last week I have, once again, realized that I really want to enjoy my children and spend less time shuffling them from here to there. I'm not sure how that will be achieved but I think the impending summer will help.
So here's to Mother's: the one we're born with, the one we marry into, the mother's that we are and the mother's we will become. Thanks to all the extraordinary examples I see around me every day. Thank you to the good friends who assure me that I'm not a failure and that we really are all in this together.
I'll close with a little story my sister-in-law emailed me.
Enjoy!
So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died.
Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom. Well we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loveschapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.
Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood. We finally have the older one and and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind. And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth. And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.
4 comments:
Yeah...your're back! Hope you had a great mothers day, you ARE a great mom. (Funny story...)
That story made me laugh so hard, I cried
Hilarious!
That's a great story. Reminds me of the glitter crotch story. Ahhh, I love stuff like that to remind me that other people's lives are at least as crass as mine.
Post a Comment