Sweet
Say Hello to Your Mother for Me
It would have been neat if I had put together some great touching blog post that would have made my wife and mom tear up and exclaim that my words were more precious to them than any gift they had ever received. I guess in a perfect world those heartfelt words of adoration would have also populated paper and screen before Mother’s Day was over. To be honest though, I was lucky that I wasn’t asking the clerk at 7-11 if they carried greeting cards on Saturday night.
What I would have written though, if I hadn’t spent 25 minutes Saturday night looking for scissors and scotch tape (because she is the only one that knows where we keep that stuff ) would have been a simple thank you.
I would have thanked the moms for rescuing their kids from dripping banana splits even if it did mean having to take her clothes off in the garage (and not in a good way). I would have thanked moms for notes in school lunches and clean rooms when we got back from summer camp. I would have also thanked them for remembering to get extra napkins and being the one that signs permission slips and makes sure our kid doesn’t show up at school dressed for pajama day when it is really hat day.
I try to do my fair share to create a solid foundation for our family but let’s be honest, if we are going for a house metaphor, mom is obviously the nails. Mom’s are the heart, moms are the love.
I would also thank the moms for the prayers and the worries. I didn’t see it as much as a kid because I was too busy being the source of said prayers and worries but I see it now. That stuff matters, it matters a lot.
I would tell moms that while we seem pretty good at taking for granted all of the behind the scenes stuff they take care of, we know there is a lot and we are grateful that they are always behind us picking up what slipped from our carry and reminding us to watch our step.
I don’t know if it is the hardest job in the world but I do know that it is the most important. Yep, if I had made the time, I would have written those things and then I would have also told them that I loved them. I would thank them for letting me live wrapped up in their love, and offer mine in return.
I should have written those things and a bunch of other things to tell moms how special they are. I would have also thanked moms for staying and waiting even when I was running late. Even if it was a whole day late.
This blog thing I started a few months ago wouldn’t be very complete if I missed the chance to mention that moms are totally sweet.
(One more, I would have also thanked them for suggesting I start writing a blog and then reading and laughing and telling me good job in a way that only a wife/mom can do)
Happy Mother’s Day (early or late, you decide)
Weak
Breakfast in Bed with a Side Order of Terror
It really is a cute idea and I can remember being excited as a kid helping dad and sister make breakfast in bed while mom pretended she didn’t hear us dropping stuff and fighting in order to keep the surprise alive.
Lets be honest though, I think mothers and fathers can agree that breakfast in bed is simply way more trouble than it is worth. Especially since you can now google image a luxurious Eggs Benedict with fresh-cut fruit and steaming hot coffee and paste it right into your Facebook status. (At least I assume doing something like that would be easy.) Breakfast in bed means a couple of things. First off, mom or dad is a prisoner in the bedroom until the big reveal. Also, nobody ever writes: congratulations on getting to change the sheets tonight before bed because of all the crumbs and spills, on the inside of a card. Lastly, kids aren’t good at cooking so you let them help with the creative stuff like cards and flowers while you oversee the mechanics of toast burning.
I do love the Americana of the whole thing though, and the big reveal is certainly fun. Sometimes though, even in your best dad effort to create a meal and presentation worthy of Pinterest with fresh-cut flowers from the backyard and everything, you don’t notice the spider. Yes, that happened. That’s right, the flowers came from outside. Guess what also lives outside? Ding Ding, spiders! Spiders give my wife a major case of the heebie jeebies, so you can only imagine how overjoyed she was to make her discovery while she was holding a cup of hot coffee and her legs were pinned down under a tray of breakfast complete with crystal vase full of flowers and water. Fun times right there.
She may have done a good job pretending she had no idea what we were up to but in the end we got to see the difference between fake surprise and real surprise.
Spiders are totally weak.
May 29th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
One time I was eating a quiche in bed (which I often do), and it spilled onto the sheets. Nothing smashes in quilts like scrambled eggs. So much fun.
May 29th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
when I get crumbs in bed, my favorite thing to do is start jumping on the bed so the crumbs break up under your feet and multiply. More crumbs = more awesome!
May 18th, 2012 at 5:20 am
I’m still laughing about the spider! I loathe them and there would have been more than surprise had I received one for mother’s day 😉
May 17th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Very, very nice; late or not.
May 17th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
Thank you so much Brigitte and congrats on getting FP today. Great post!
May 16th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
I really dig your blog…have nominated you for a Lovely Blog Award.
http://unfetteredbs.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/lovely-blog-award-oh-my/
May 16th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
SWEET!!! Thanks so much.
May 15th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
Hysterical! And a very touching Mother’s Day note – I’m sure you made them tear up. 🙂
May 16th, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Thanks Audrey, yeah I was going for the emotion for sure.
May 15th, 2012 at 5:11 am
Hahaha…………..I think most mom’s fear breakfast in bed. A one day maid service would be better appreciated.
I have tagged you, hope you don’t mind. http://seekingsynergy.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/tagged/
May 16th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Thanks! Totally agree, that would have been a good idea.
May 15th, 2012 at 1:09 am
😀 I’m still laughing at what I imagine the ‘real surprise’ looked like, poor mum!
I too got breakfast in bed. Son number 1 sorted it out so quietly that for a while I truly believed that everyone had forgotten and was just watching telly, totally blowing me off. Because of that, when the (unburned!) toast finally turned up I WAS actually surprised 🙂
May 16th, 2012 at 8:45 pm
Glad you had an easier go of it with no 8 legged visitors.
May 14th, 2012 at 11:20 pm
I just keep coming back for the refreshment. Lovely post.
Maybe I’m lucky my mom isn’t sentimental. She always figured Mother’s Day was invented by the greeting card companies and would have none of it. Still, it means I don’t any good stories.
May 16th, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Thanks Carol, your comment is so kind and I really appreciate it.
May 14th, 2012 at 5:12 pm
I speak for all moms when I say, definitely “better late than never!” What a thoughtful, kind, and, yes, “sweet” post. 🙂
May 14th, 2012 at 8:49 pm
Thanks SC I appreciate your kind words.
May 14th, 2012 at 10:09 pm
Agree with all here. A beautiful post no matter how late it may have been. And yes, I got a tear in my eye too.
May 16th, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Thanks Jen!
May 14th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Thanks for all your thoughtful words about moms. I think they deserve those year round, not just once a year so you should be commended for your timing. As for the breakfast in bed thing, I totally agree that is weak. I can just picture your wife’s reaction when she discovered the spider. Thanks for the laugh!
May 14th, 2012 at 8:50 pm
She was not very excited about her 8 legged gift.
May 14th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Aww, what a sweet post. I missed the boat on a great Mom post myself, as I basically took the day off from everything i could. As for timing, there is no expiration on such a nice tribute. The spider was a surprise and the image you portray is a hoot. Ain’t family life full of adventure?
May 14th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Thanks Szabo. Family life is an adventure indeed.
May 14th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
My daughter (living in England right now) tells me of a sign reminding kids to buy their moms ‘a bottle’…of wine or something with large alcoholic content) for Mother’s Day. The sign concludes, ‘After all, you’re the reason she drinks!’ ‘Nuff said…
May 14th, 2012 at 8:52 pm
Isn’t that the truth. How funny. Thanks for he laugh Laurie.
May 14th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Thanks Simon. A real touching post.You made me think of my Mom and how lucky we were to be the recipients of those countless little gifts of love that she so freely offered, little actions we were not even aware of. Why do we leave it too late to say thank you?
May 14th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Thanks Don, we are so lucky to have or have had our moms.
May 14th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
Ok, I don’t mean to be all “hey, I wrote something similar, so everybody click over to my blog to bump up my stats!” but I have to tell you that your post echoed my Mother’s Day post sentiments exactly! WORD to the mother! Very funny stuff – shared on Twitter and FB.
May 14th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Thanks Lisa,
I just read your post and it is hilarious. While I was there I thought about clicking on a bunch of archives to pump your stats up and make you think I have way more readers than I do. It is true though, some of the holiday rigmarole is more trouble than it is worth.
May 14th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
You have a sick sense of humor….
and I like it!
May 14th, 2012 at 1:26 pm
You made me cry at work! Very lovely post.
May 14th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
Thanks Maggie, sorry about that.