When I was a new mother, I’d hear other older mothers comment on how much they loved being a mother. I didn’t feel their same fervor at first. But, I’ve found over the years that the more I sacrifice for my children and am challenged personally, the more I love being a mother. Years later, if someone asked me now to tell them something about myself, I’d probably say “I love Indian and ethnic foods” and right after that, “I love being a mother.” I’ve had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I wish all the mothers in my life a wonderful day where you can feel how loved you are and the tremendous impact you've had on others for good.
This week leading up to Mother’s Day 2015 has been a good
one. My oldest son is 18 years old and is trying to graduate from high school. He
only had one packet left: dreaded math. On Wednesday, we had a math marathon
where we did high school math for six hours. We met our goal and he has
graduated from high school. I told him if he wanted to pay me back for all the
hours I’ve helped him this past year, he could help me clean.
Well, on Saturday morning, I rallied the troops to help
clean. My son had an errand to run but as soon as he got back, he came up to me
and asked “What can I do to help?” He was very helpful. I said to him, “You’re
a good son” He commented right back, “You’re a good mother.” He only says what
he means, so this meant a lot to me. He even insisted that I have breakfast in bed on Mother's Day complete with chocolate muffins with fresh raspberries, smoothie and flowers (see below.)
My next child is a 15 year old daughter with special needs
and a host of problems. I accompanied her to a four hour work training at
Lagoon this week where she hopes to work if she can get a handle on her problems. I try
to never lose hope on my children. Her special education teacher often reminds
Carinna how she is lucky to have a Mom who cares about her so much to spend all
this time with her.
Yesterday was a cold, rainy, miserable day. My 15 year old
and 7 year old daughters wanted to go someplace indoors for some fun but had a
hard time coming to agreement on where to go. I eventually decided not to go
where my 15 year old daughter wanted to go, and, boy, was she mad and
disappointed. I was hoping this could turn into a teaching moment. When we were
alone, I shared a time with her when I was 14 years old and had a period in my
life that was very disappointing and I felt very angry about it. She listened
intently and afterward said “You always know how to make me feel better. I have
so much to be thankful for. You’re the best Mom I could ever have.”
My little seven year old daughter reminds me of the simple
pleasures and happiness of being a child. She loves the rain because of playing
with the snails and potato bugs. She wondered if the next time we went to “Build
a Bear Workshop” if I would say something silly to the cashier there. She
wanted me to tell them that we had an idea for a new business, Build a Snail
Workshop with little hats to put on the snail. I told her about how spontaneous
I was in high school along with detailed stories. I still have no problems making
a fool out of myself.
As I tucked Janessa into bed, she asked “Do you want to tell
me anything else?” I said, “Yes, I love you very much.” She said “You tell me
that every day. I know you love me.” That was good news!
Years earlier, we got
new furniture for our family room and I told them not to eat or drink on the
new couches. Sure enough, I came in one day to find them eating taffy with
sticky hands and fingers on the couch. They were so sticky that they had taffy
juice running down their chins. It didn’t occur to me to get angry. I decided to break into song instead. I sang
about how they shouldn’t eat or drink on the new furniture. When I was done
singing, they said “Sing it again. Sing it again.” I’m not sure if they got the
message of no food on the furniture, but I’m pretty sure they got the message
that I loved them, the most important message, in my opinion.
If your kids know you love them, then you’re doing great! (We
can always wipe down the couch later.)
