My daughter just turned nine, and so I threw her a birthday party on a Sunday afternoon. And, in doing all the last minute cooking and cleaning, I had become, shall we say, rather worked up. Feeling quite in my motherhood mode, I barked orders for my kids that Sunday as soon as they came home from their father’s place.
“Throw this out...okay, you vacuum.... put this pile of laundry away... I’ll finish the dishes....hurry...they’ll be here in an hour!” They followed orders as fast as they could, excited about the imminent festivities and seemingly amused at how fast they could make the house look presentable when they really wanted to.
But then, as I was quickly clearing away some paper clutter, to my sweet surprise I came across a homemade mother’s day card from months ago that, honestly, I don’t remember reading. It stopped me in my tracks.
You rock, mom! it said on the front of the card. My daughter had drawn the sun peeping out from the corner of the page. Its rays were in the shape of hearts. Flowers came up from the ground, which was marked with the word “LOVE” in curlycue letters. I opened up the card to read a letter that was alternately in the handwriting of both my son and my daughter, saying that they loved me very much, that they had been praying for me, that they hoped that my mother’s day was awesome, and that I was happy. I couldn’t bear telling them that I didn’t remember the card, so I just pretended that I was admiring it again.
Later, as I looked through my calendar, I realized the craziness of our lives that week before Mother’s Day. My daughter had been sick with mono, and, as she was just starting to recover, she crushed her little finger in a desk, requiring a mad dash to the ER. The same day of the crushed finger, our beloved hamster Rosie died. Add school and work schedules, and a hamster funeral. (And mix until dizzy.) About ten minutes after the funeral, they were packed up and off to their father’s house for the weekend.... But how could I have not remembered this card? Perhaps I was sleep deprived? Maybe they forgot to give it to me? I don’t know. But what do know is that, with all that was going on, my kids wrote that they had been praying for me. And they think I rock.
“Throw this out...okay, you vacuum.... put this pile of laundry away... I’ll finish the dishes....hurry...they’ll be here in an hour!” They followed orders as fast as they could, excited about the imminent festivities and seemingly amused at how fast they could make the house look presentable when they really wanted to.
But then, as I was quickly clearing away some paper clutter, to my sweet surprise I came across a homemade mother’s day card from months ago that, honestly, I don’t remember reading. It stopped me in my tracks.
You rock, mom! it said on the front of the card. My daughter had drawn the sun peeping out from the corner of the page. Its rays were in the shape of hearts. Flowers came up from the ground, which was marked with the word “LOVE” in curlycue letters. I opened up the card to read a letter that was alternately in the handwriting of both my son and my daughter, saying that they loved me very much, that they had been praying for me, that they hoped that my mother’s day was awesome, and that I was happy. I couldn’t bear telling them that I didn’t remember the card, so I just pretended that I was admiring it again.
Later, as I looked through my calendar, I realized the craziness of our lives that week before Mother’s Day. My daughter had been sick with mono, and, as she was just starting to recover, she crushed her little finger in a desk, requiring a mad dash to the ER. The same day of the crushed finger, our beloved hamster Rosie died. Add school and work schedules, and a hamster funeral. (And mix until dizzy.) About ten minutes after the funeral, they were packed up and off to their father’s house for the weekend.... But how could I have not remembered this card? Perhaps I was sleep deprived? Maybe they forgot to give it to me? I don’t know. But what do know is that, with all that was going on, my kids wrote that they had been praying for me. And they think I rock.
It was my daughter’s birthday party, but I think I received the best gift.
