Happy Mother's Day!

My first Mother's Day after Will was born, I was awake for the day by 5:30 a.m. when Will got up to nurse and wouldn't go back to sleep.  I remember feeling like it wasn't supposed to happen that way, that Mother's Day was going to somehow be a magical day where I, as a Mom, got the day off and didn't have to do any work.  In a sense, I wanted to celebrate Mother's Day by pretending I wasn't a mother.

That's hard to do when you have a nursing baby, and when you're also expecting your husband to cook a meal for your extended family, thereby preventing him from assuming all childcare responsibilities.  (No really, stop cutting lobster meat and change this diaper, Greg, it's Mother's Day.  And get a move on those sandwiches, we need at least fourteen of them.  Have you even made the fruit salad?)  Not only did Greg make an amazing luncheon for my immediate family and both sets of grandparents, but my mother-in-law actually woke up and cooked me breakfast.  So it was a great Mother's Day, even though part of me really resented my 5:30 a.m. wake-up and stay up.

Just one of the plates of Lobster Rolls last year!

I kind of laugh when I think about it now, and have adjusted my expectations.  I've also grown into my role as a mother, and while I'd still like a few minutes of quiet to myself on Mother's Day to drink a whole cup of coffee while it's still warm or maybe knit more than ten stitches of a sock, I no longer crave a day long break from diapers.  I don't mind changing diapers.  I really don't.  

This year, I've decided to be more reasonable.  Here's how I'm planning to celebrate:  

(And no, I don't feel bad asking for what I want.  Should I?  I'll reciprocate for Father's Day if that helps!)

A Photo of Me with Both Boys: Greg takes amazing pictures, but things are so busy that we don't have many of me with both kids.  I'd love Greg to be in them too, so maybe we can set up a tripod and take some with the timer.  Either way, I'm getting up, putting makeup on, and getting some photos I'll want to look at later!

Almost a picture of me with both boys, but maybe if I looked at the camera it'd help!

Some Time To Myself: Not on Mother's Day, when I'd rather be spending time as a family because Greg isn't working.  No, I've promised myself to get a babysitter a little more frequently, starting this afternoon, so that I can get some scheduled quiet time to look forward to.  And I want to use it for more than folding laundry and taking care of things around the house.  I want to use it to work uninterrupted on a craft project for more than five minutes, to start putting photographs in our family albums, to do the things that never seem to get done because while they're important, they're not urgent.  And I want that cup of coffee I was talking about.

Yes!

No.

A New Child to Sponsor: I am ridiculously lucky.  I have two healthy boys, and not only do they have a safe place to live, plenty of food and clothing, and warm beds to sleep in, but I am also able to stay home  with them.  Many mothers aren't so lucky, and I can only imagine the heartbreak it must cause a mother to see her child go hungry.  I cannot begin to imagine.  So as a small expression of thanks, for each of my sons who have all they need, we're sponsoring a child who doesn't.  It will be something we talk to the boys about as they get older, and it's my way of helping another mother now.  We go through Children International.  The Heifer Project is another great organization to help provide food and income for needy families, and I love its focus on education and recipients sharing their gifts with the community.  Because, as much as I love jewelry, I don't even wear it around my young children.  This is a gift I really need.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms!  Hope it meets expectations ;)

Me with my amazing Mom :)