Breaking Away

Mother's Day is always an interesting day to me.   "What do you want to do for Mother's Day?" is one of my most dreaded questions.  

How do you answer that...  ?

Do you say, "Oh, honey, I really just want to be home and spend it with my children and my husband..  you are family and I love being with those I love!"... keeping in mind that these are the people I see every day.. so honestly, wanting to spend the signature "mother's day" with them is REEEEEALLY a day to look at them and reflect on what an awesome job I am doing..... teaching my kids to love, showing my kids how to take responsibility, encouraging them to have a voice and make the right choices.... altering behaviors that are not appropriate in public. Yup, staying home on mother's day allows me to take a deep sigh and say to myself,  "I frickin' rock"...  !!!!

Of course, this time of self-gratifying reflection is only for a brief moment in time before the dishes need to be done.. or a fight between your kids needs to be stopped ..or you have to find something  that only YOU can find because no one else knows where that certain something is.. Oh!, and the laundry hasnt been touched all week, and since we are on the conservative energy schedule, I better do it today because Saturday was about soccer, running to Costco and making that potluck dish for the random and spontaneous get-together Saturday night... 

Spending it at home...  hhmmmmm..  ?

The other option for Mother's Day is to ...run!!.. run far, far away for the day... and take some time to pat yourself on the back for all of your parental accomplishments from a distance.. in solitude, and just breeeeeathe...  during the 90-minute facial, or the rare, but more than need 2-hour massage...(who doesnt want OR deserve that?!) aaaahhhhhhhhhh!!! ... or maybe take the time to have lunch with your other mother friends who enjoy cynical, stimulating adult conversation just as much as you do, but you cant find the time to actually say a complete sentence on the phone without hearing your kids yelling from the bathroom down the hall, "MAAAAAWWWWMM.... CAN YOU CHECK MY BUTT?!"

Breaking away for a short period of time isnt so bad...  it helps me savor the flavor of the chilled mirmosa, or bloody mary or...... the drink of choice that day.. without Scooby Doo on the TV in the other room ...."rats right!"....and when I do come home, these tender-hearted, everyday (sometimes) annoyances are actually quite precious, and it helps me realize that they grow up too damn fast...

Yeah, staying home for Mother's Day might not be the "funnest" - or the most relaxing for that matter - but it is comforting to be doing what we do best..  to love and give, and love and give some more.   And lets admit it...  disappearing for 5-6 hours on a huggy and lovey, flower-filled and sappy-card day is difficult to do guilt-free.. (not that we still wont go away for the day.. I mean c'mon... when given the window of opportunity to spend time to yourself, why wouldn't you?)    

However you decide to spend it, know that you ARE the best mom you can be, and that your kids are a reflection of you.... so whatever you want your kids to be in life, start BEING it to them NOW.....