it's mothers day

it was a perfect day.  really. 
i slept well and awoke to the youngest three in our bed telling us how much they missed us last night when we were out. 

i got some great cards:

from jude

and this one from bryn

in case you can't read it: "if you dare to open this book there will be lots of love inside"

we packed a picnic and went to the 'vision for africa' pool and played and swam in the warm sun.  then we went to 'mish mash' because they have a playground, lots of run around space, couches that are as big as beds, and today kids ate free and any mom with kids got a free glass of wine, which we all know, is well deserved. i'm just saying.

it was a great day.

the thing about being a mom is that it requires a skill set that not everyone has.  i mean, when we picked our professions, or even our jobs, we thought about our strengths and weaknesses and tried to find a match.  we all want to do something that seems to fit us, and to avoid things we aren't so good at.  i worked in a nursing home as a nursing assistant for years, but being a waitress lasted only for a few months.  i would be a terrible lawyer (i'm way too heated in an argument), or politician (no poker face), or architect (could never deal with all those books of specifications- the minutia).

but the trouble with parenting, is that if you want kids- pretty much the skill set required is the same- a tremendous amount of patience and calm and flexibility. for me at least the first two, would fall into the 'weakness' category.  and this seems kind of unfair.  i mean, some people are just wired better for raising small people who ask a zillion questions, take forever to do anything (especially when you're trying to get to school in the morning) and still burp loudly at the table while eating with their fingers (at age 12). 

so i'm one of those who muddles through.  who has to remember that the picnic isn't ruined if the drinkable yogurt is spilled all over the mat.  who has to take a time out and remember that kids are messy and that is okay,  that i was really goofy at age 12 too, that whining isn't the end of the world and that eventually they will grow up and i will miss all the spills and burps and maybe even the whining, but i doubt it. 

i love these little people who make me have to stop and remember what matters. every. day.  who make me look at the weaknesses in myself and laugh and try better the next day.  who still see beauty in car headlights and fear the lighting in the sky.  who are trying to understand what is just an expression, and what is sarcastic and when no means no.  who eat all. day. long.  and swear each morning that they were awake all night because they can't remember their dreams.  who look to us for their interpretation of the world, "we like obama right mommy?"  said jude.

today he started calling me mom. ouch.  not quite ready.  now i'm half way to loosing the mommy.  they are growing up and it won't be long before they don't want to be a "we". at. all.  until they want to be the opposite of a 'we'. soon they will all be all "me". 

so i held on to today.  i loved it.  the beautiful mess of what it was- laughing, fighting, sharing, and snuggling of it.  enjoying the ride.

happy mothers day!