So…yesterday (Mother’s Day) did not get off to the greatest start.
My fabulous husband let me sleep in and when I woke up (at 9!) all I heard was screaming. I poked my head out and Wonderbug was having an insane tantrum. We are talking EPIC.
After learning that it was due to hitting his sister and his father, I attempted to let daddy handle it while carrying around a hysterical baby who only wanted to be held by otherwise occupied daddy. Awesome. Later, I asked for the Bug for a Mother’s Day hug. Denied. Fist Bump? No thank you.
I wasn’t exactly feeling the love.
Needless to say, I was starting my day a tad disappointed. As I ate my yummy french toast alone, I started to mope a bit. Then my husband and son went out to run an errand (son still wouldn’t look at or talk to me) and I full on cried.
LAME.
I had wanted a nice day with the family. By the time they got back to the house, I figured my hope of going to the Farmer’s Market was a distant memory and as my daughter screamed for daddy again, my eyes teared up. (Son still wouldn’t give me any sort of hug and when I tried to steal one, he screamed and said “leave me alone.”)
Oh my word, buck up sister!
Luckily my husband was smart enough to know what I needed and got us all packed up to go anyway — even though it was nap time and even though my son was still being downright unpleasant.
So after a nice excursion to get strawberries, blueberries and peaches, after a quick outing to Panera to read for thirty minutes uninterrupted and a fabulous take-out sushi dinner with MY mom and sister, I realized that Mother’s Day is sort of a cruel idea.
We moms have this vision of a day full of awesome appreciation. We want to sleep, avoid housework, have some peace and quiet, and hang with our happy family. It almost never happens.
If I look back on some of my prior Mother’s Days there was always some moment of utter madness. If I had looked at yesterday as just a typical Sunday at my house, I never would have cried. Sure, I still might have wanted to throw my son out a window a few times but I wouldn’t have wallowed in some immature, self-pity. I have a healthy, wonderful family that I am eternally grateful for.
So thanks Anna Jarvis. Thanks Hallmark for all those picture perfect moments that never quite happen the way you envision them.
I think in our household I’m putting Mother’s Day into the same category as Valentines. My family doesn’t need a holiday to celebrate me or appreciate me. They do a good job on most any other normal day.
Jessica says
I think a good “Mother’s Day” is any day of the year when all of those otherwise perfect moments align and life seems too good to be true. Most of the time it doesn’t happen on Mother’s Day so we’ve got to take what we get when we can get it and remember just remember those “perfect days” on our crummy Mother’s Day.
Jessica says
BTW, my Mother’s Day last year was horrible which set the bar pretty low for this year and made me much more appreciative of whatever good things came along this year.
Missa says
I just wrote about my “idyllic” mother’s day but I left out the part where on Saturday night I felt super rage-y that I was attempting to plan my own day only to have my ideas criticized. I glossed over that because I needed to decide to look past it in order to have a good day. Things could have gone south for me when my husband had to go to Urgent Care instead of us all heading to a museum, but…it was perfect anyways. I guess I got lucky. Or I have low expectations…
http://staycationmama.blogspot.com/2012/05/perfection-from-coffee-to-yellow-brick.html
Annie @ Mama Dweeb says
Yeah – thanks to Hallmark, Pinterest, Instagram and television we have this drummed up idea of mother’s day that ain’t real. Last year was as bad as yours for me. 4 yo daughter, 2 yo son and 5 month old baby. And Josh decided to work all day and leave me with a messy house. No gift. It was awful.
But this year I decided to say “screw Mother’s day!” and I turned off my computer and TV. Again, Josh worked all day and the house was a wreck. But I enjoyed my day with my kids. It helps that they are now old enough to say how much they love me 🙂 But yeah…..it helped SO MUCH to ignore the holiday!
Jessica R. says
It’s definitely one of those holidays that set us up for utter failure. The trick, I have found, is to set expectations really low. Also, it gets WAY better as the kids get older!
Kelly {the Centsible Life} says
I have to agree with Jessica that it gets better as they get older. Maybe they’re a little less giving of hugs and affection, but it means snagging a whole afternoon out and the kid finally understanding that sleeping in is the key to a happy mom. 🙂
Jo-Lynne {Musings of a Housewife} says
OMG I SO wanted to write a post like this. Mine was sucky in different ways, but I felt the same way as you – that this stupid holiday makes me expect something that is unrealistic, even when I know that it’s dumb, I still let it get to me. Blergh. I’m sorry you had a disappointing day, but thanks for posting this and letting us know we’re not alone.
Melanie says
Yep, they do get better as they get older, but I still dislike these manufactured holidays. I even feel this way about birthdays to some extent. Any time you have a Romantic ideal for a certain type of event, it’s impossible for the reality to match what’s in your imagination. I’m inevitably disappointed. When I finally realized I was creating my own disappointment, I stopped trying to make the days special and I’ve been much happier.
Create n exhibit says
his was my Best” Mother’s Day, therefore i’m grateful , however I whole get you. i like the thought that if it were the other day, you wouldn’t have cared. So true!