Happy Mother's Day

Ahh, Mother's Day is here again. I can't help but wonder if this is the year my kids will surprise me with something I really want--like they've been making a list and checking it twice whenever I mention something I could use or would enjoy? Am I setting myself up for disappointment with such lofty expectations?
In my friend, Nicole's blog header she states, "In my mind, there is a world where my house is poshly decorated, my family is organized, my kids are occupied, and our meals nurture and amaze..." Well, in my mind there is a world where I'm briefly awakened in the wee hours of Mother's Day morning as Mike brushes a soft, sweet kiss on my lips just before heading off to work (he's never had Sundays off the whole time we've been married). I mumble for him to have a good day and fluff my pillow, roll over and snuggle under my covers and drift back to sleep with my feet cherishing the warmth of the spot he just left on his side of the bed. A few hours later, I awake to the smell of bacon and some yummy "lovin' from the oven" smells. My kids are working together to not only prepare breakfast but also to clean up the kitchen as they go along so as not to leave a big mess for me on Mother's Day. I tip across the living room and peer into the kitchen to see a lap tray complete with a bowl of yogurt topped with fresh fruit, a fried egg-over hard with a pinch of salt and pepper-just the way I like it, a couple of strips of chewy-crisp bacon (prepared in the microwave and drained on additional paper towels just like I've shown them on numerous occasions) and a spot for the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls that are just about ready to come out of the oven. To think they've covered all of the basic food groups! There is a mug of steaming hot cafe con leche (probably instant coffee, but I have to cut them some slack even in my mind because I was almost 40 before I learned to "brew" a decent cup of joe) and a 4-ounce glass of orange juice. A & A are joking with one another and trying to keep it down so as not to awaken me before everything is done. I thank God for my wonderful children and gush over just how blessed I am to have such loving kids before I sneak back to my bedroom to be "surprised" by breakfast in bed. In all actuality I'd settle for a pop-tart or slice of toast and a leftover sausage patty with a glass of juice or water, just so long as my kids put forth the effort to treat me to something they thought I would like for Mother's Day. I really think I'm quite easy to please. For the time being, money is always an issue. The kids don't get an allowance, so they don't really have money of their own to allocate to different things like gifts for parents. Mike usually takes A & A shopping after school the week before Mother's Day and has them pick out something like bath sets or tools for relaxation (one year they bought me an electric fountain trickling over the smooth stones--did they not realize the fish tank makes that same trickling noise when the filter needs changing?). I think it was their way of telling me "politely" to chill out.
At any rate, all of that was in my mind. Now, let me tell you about how my actual Mother's Day went. I awoke and dragged kids out of bed to get ready for 8 o'clock mass followed by Sunday school (C.C.E.) at 9 a.m. We needed to leave by 7:30 to pick up Grandmom and make it to church on time. At 7:20 I walk into the kitchen. Alisa is dressed, but her hair isn't combed, her shoes are not on her feet, and she is "fixing me breakfast" of a boiled egg, a grapefruit half, and...she's rifling through the drawer to find the tulip-shaped cookie cutter to make me "flower toast." I thank her profusely for her thoughtfulness and ask if she could please just go finish getting ready. I attempted to explain that while I appreciated the effort, we'd be late to church for sure if she continued...We were late to church, but Fr. LeDoux was later making it to mass, so all was well. Mass ran over, but I wasn't even aware of that fact because I had my watch on upside down and didn't have on my glasses to read the tiny digits in the dim lighting of the sanctuary. That's another story in and of itself. C.C.E. lasted all of 15 minutes.
We made it home, and I was craving strawberry muffins. I knew I had strawberries in the frig that needed to be used up, so I went about emptying the dishwasher and drainboard and putting together my muffins. The weather was cool and damp, so I put on a pot of coffee as well. A & A made themselves quite scarce. My timing was all off. It was around 11:30 or so when the muffins and coffee were ready and dinner at PaPa & Tia's would not be until 5 p.m. There'd have to be some lunch somewhere in between. I put on a pot of water on the stove and started chopping veggies to make a pasta-tuna salad. When that was done, I frosted and decorated the cake I was to take to PaPa & Tia's house for dessert. Mike made it in from work. I ran by Kroger for more Blue Bell (I'd been bragging so much about the new Summer Berries flavor that I thought I'd better bring some to go with the cake), dropped Grandmom, the cake and ice cream by PaPa & Tia's then returned home to scoop up the rest of my gang and head to Trish's house to visit briefly with Mike's mom, Jessie. This mother's day felt an awful lot like every other day to me-busy. Let me backtrack for just a moment. On Saturday, A & A did buy me flowers to plant in my flower pots in the backyard at my own personal request for such. I just gave them the $5 bill I had in my purse, drove them to ACE Hardware and stayed in the car while they went in and made their selections. They did a great job--Aaron chose two shades of petunias, and Alisa chose a beautiful cream colored zinnia and a sweet pea plant.
Back to today...I spent most of my day wondering where in the world did I go wrong?! Here's what I came up with: should you find yourself washing your own dishes, folding your own laundry, or decorating your own cake on what's supposed to be your "special" day, rest assured that all is not in vain! You're a wonderful and capable mother who does such a great job of "doing it all" all the time that your kids just know they couldn't hold a candle to your dishes, laundry or cooking, so why should they even try? They think you're superwoman and why would they want to take away such an honor on Mother's Day? I'm just hoping that for a year or two between the wonder years and the "all grown up with a husband/wife and kids of their own" years I'll be duly pampered with affection and appreciation on Mother's Day at the very least! Whew, that was way longer than I ever intended it to be and I'm tuckered. Until next time...