Mother's Day

Yesterday was a lovely Mother's Day. 

I got to sleep in.  By sleep in, I mean that I was not up at 6 a.m. in order to get everyone out the door on time.  I was in a deep dream when I heard a crash downstairs, followed by tears and Abby yelling, "It's all my fault!"

Unable to ignore it, I went downstairs to find out what happened.  Nick was feeding Noah and Abby had accidently knocked over the flowers that were picked out for me.  The water was dripping off the dining room table, onto the floor, soaking through all the random papers that were left out.  I pretended not to see the breakfast tray that was clearly prepared for me and helped her clean up.  Then I went back to bed and tried to fall back asleep.

"Tried" is the key word.

Within moments, everyone brought me breakfast in bed, which was lovely.  Even Noah got in on the action, crawling around on the bed with his brother and sister.  I was given flowers and a huge balloon, all of which Abby picked out the night before without me knowing.

My gift from Nick was that I could go do whatever I wanted all day while he stayed home with the kids.  And, to not feel guilty about it.

Yes, ladies, pretty sweet gift.

We went to church and once we were home, I immediately took off.  I really did not know where I was headed to, but quickly decided on Ikea.  Why?  Because I could. 

I walked through the showcases of rooms at a slow pace, taking in every idea for how to decorate a room.  Around me, there were couples, with the woman in the lead and the husband looking like he was being tortured.  Clearly, the women were getting their Mother's Day gift of shopping.  I also saw families shopping together, with small children running around in circles and older teens arguing about what they wanted.

Oh, the pity I felt for them.  Too bad those moms did not have the freedom gift that I had received that day.

After taking pictures of numerous table and cabinet sets I liked (our old, but free, dining room set is gradually falling apart), I left Ikea and headed to Panera.  Why?  Because I could.

I savored my soup and salad in the quiet restaurant.  No "Can I have thats?" or rushing through my food to keep a baby happy.  I opened up my notebook and wrote a children's story that had been on my mind.  Seriously.  Had an idea a few weeks back, but never had the quiet time to actually write it down.

I finally gave in and headed home, since we still had to go to Nick's parent's house for dinner.  After all, we needed to celebrate the wonderful mom who raised her son to know how to give a good Mother's Day gift to his wife.

Even though all I asked for from the kids was "No fighting, no arguing and clean rooms," but got none of that, I cannot complain.  I had such a lovely afternoon just being me and had my amazing children and husband to come home to.

That was yesterday.  Today, I have changed diapers, fed children, cleaned the fish tank, baby-sat my neighbor's kids (and changed more diapers), went for a walk with three children (only one was mine), did laundry, and cleaned up the messes that were left from yesterday.  And that was all this morning.

Back to reality.