Mother's Day - Here's to you!

Mother's day will greet me in the morning - my children are too small to understand or remember it - but I'm sure God will remind their Sunday school teachers, who will no doubt have them paste some construction paper to some other construction paper and do some wicked coloring, and if I'm really blessed, they might even sprinkle glitter in the mix and color my world for a few weeks.

Motherhood is the craziest thing I've ever done. My children make every day a fascinating, terrifying adventure. I have no idea what's coming next, and its simultaneously the most fun and the most frustrating thing I've ever done. I was not that much of a boy chaser in my youth, but I'm making up for it now, in a completely different way.

Here are my mother's day salutations to friends, family, and myself - for all we do. Raise your glass, or juice box that you stole from your child, to the mothers in your life.

Here is, first and foremost, to my husband - who made me a mother. I guess I helped him a little, but I'm holding him largely responsible. He appreciates me and respects me, and most importantly, backs me up when I discipline our children. He teaches and will continue to teach three boys to be men who grow up loving and respecting their mom, and other women they love.

...here's to his dad for teaching him.

...and here is to the mom's who do it without a man like mine. Who do it on their own - who have no back up to call in when life turns up the heat; you're amazing.

...here's to super moms. The mom's who seem to have it so much more together than me. Your laundry is done. Your house is clean and smells good. There is no jelly stuck to your kitchen floor, no fingerprints smeared on your windows, no sand in your child's bedsheets. (all three of those reign at my house, at least I hope its jelly and sand). Your vehicle does not have bank teller lolly pops melted into the upholstry under your stow and go seats. Your children do not eat cheetoh balls off the garage floor that preschool teachers sent home last week. (that actually happened today...with a complete slow motion supervision from across the room...hear me saying, "Miles, noooooo..." in a really low slow motion voice.)
Super moms, you make amazing crafty themed cupcakes and invitations for school birthday parties, with party favors to match. Here's to that amazing combination of knack for time management, flare for design and just the general ability to give a damn! Though I curse you as I clean your Oriental trading company trinkets out of my Dodge Grand Caravan, and hold you personally responsible for global warming, as I feel those trinkets are filling up landfills... Though - you probably make up for it by using cloth diapers...touche!
Super moms plan their pregnancies!! They have labor and delivery plans! They plan their birthday cakes! and amazingly, many of their plans actually work out for them!

...and here's to moms more like me. Whose house is always chaotic with toys, dirt, unfindable smells that turn out to be a sock in the toybox or crayons in the baseboard heater. To moms who do their best to get dishes done, laundry folded and put away and the trash taken out before the next poop crisis arises. To moms who do their darndest to be on time, and have their departure plotted to the second, only to be foiled by a poopy diaper, a cat who won't come down off the garage door, or a child who has, for the third to one-hundreth time today, removed his shoes and lost them. (And here's to my mom, who often had everyone ready to go and in the car, and would walk in and find me naked in the closet...I promise I was under the age of 5)
...and here's to moms who try their best to stay in touch with friends, but cannot concentrate on phone conversations, because brothers are pulling one another's hair out, or are about to stick their lunchtime carrot stick up their nose.
...here's to moms who try really hard to take that birth control pill every day at the same time, but just can't remember if you took yesterday's, or if that was just the gummy vitamins you stole from your children. And who could blame you? Oh my gosh, they are so good!!!
....here's to moms who are months behind on scrapbooking, but resolve to continue taking pictures because someday we'll catch up.
...here's to moms who rock their babies or cuddle their toddlers or just sit beside their big kids at bedtime long after they are asleep, because you just can't stop loving the feeling of them next to you.
....and here's to moms who make up lullaby's that don't rhyme or make any sense, because their brains are too fried to remember the traditional ones.
....here's to mom's like me - who awake from a night of sleep to the sound of running water in the kitchen...who get up to discover their two-year-old-who-is-potty-training has pooped in the kitchen sink. Yes this actually happened. I did my best with nearly an entire bottle of bleach, but I don't blame you if you want to bring a water bottle when you come over.
...and here's to moms who are thrilled when their little boys pee outside instead of in their underwear...even if its in a very nice neighbor's yard, or on number two tee box, or in a friend in town's driveway - who might have preferred that a child not be peeing in their driveway.
...and here's to mom's who never stop serving their children all day long. Sometimes you don't notice because its so routine. Sometimes its exhausting. Sometimes you'd rather go hide in your bed than deal with the next mess, breaking up the next fight, teaching the next lesson, having the next conversation that your child will remember forever. But you do not run or hide - you clean, you negotiate, you scold, encourage, or build-up your kids. You sacrifice, you die to self, you might even do these things with a great attitude.
...and here's to the moms who occasionally play a martyr...been there.
....and here's to the moms who occasionally throw a selfish hissy fit...done that.
....and here's to the moms who say bad words in front of their kids, and lose their tempers, say things they shouldn't, and make mistakes that would never make it onto a Halmark Mother's Day card...done that too.
....and here's to the dad's and husbands who put up with this kind of thing...have one of those.
...and here's to the moms that do it all again tomorrow...I'm with you.
...And most importantly, here's to my Gracious Savior, Jesus Christ who I can run to on a daily basis and receive absolutely everything I need to parent my boys so their lives can overflow with love. He makes all things new. He is good, what He does is good.

Happy mother's day to all the mama's who feel like the little things they do are unnoticed, unsung and unappreciated. You are not alone. You are doing a good job. You are loved.

Spring, spring, spring!

Today is April 13, 2011. It snowed this morning...then got up to 50 degrees. I have no downspouts, so the gutters dump into my planters making big mucky puddles. These are not so attractive for the landscaping, but very appealing to little boys with rubber boots...so here is a photo post of Isaiah and Miles's fun today.