Mother's Day Gifts

Because I live my life mostly in the Day Late and Dollar Short mode - Happy Mother's Day!

A few years back I woke up on a bright Mother's Day morning and declared that we should go to the Baltimore Aquarium. My husband, ever the skeptic, was leery of the idea. I mean, we'd have to skip church. And drive there. And it was not what we normally did on Sundays, or Mother's Days for that matter. But I was adamant. How often do we skip church? (Um, the answer is never.) And isn't Mother's Day all about the mom? Besides, being Mother's Day and all the aquarium would be nearly empty. Who goes there on Mother's Day?

So we went. We packed the kids into the van and drove the several hours to Baltimore on a whim because sometimes Sam just gives up before talking me down from my ledge. And you know what we discovered? That there are a heck of a lot of moms out there that wake up on Mother's Day and say, "You know what we should do? Go to the aquarium." The place was so incredibly crowded that we couldn't get parking. We parked blocks away and walked in. When we walked back we realized that we exceeded the 1 hour parking limit and that police do indeed patrol and ticket on Sundays. Who knew? It was so incredibly crowded that it was assembly-line maneuverage inside. You shuffled single-file past each tank and if you stepped out of line to, say, change your son's diaper then you did not get back into line without starting at the beginning again because those people would lynch you for line hopping.

So that year we learned a very important lesson. Do not go to the Baltimore Aquarium on Mother's Day. That would not be a good idea.

But this year? I was treated like royalty, and it was very nice. Sam got up with Micah, and the kids made me breakfast and brought it to my bedside. (At 7:15, and only that late because Sam held them off for a little while.) Breakfast was dee-lish if I say so myself. And then? I sat in bed and watched TV for the first time in my entire life. Really. It, too, was dee-lish.

But when I came downstairs? I'd discovered that the kids loaded the dishwasher. Is this not the best thing that a mother can wake up to ever? I give them an A for effort, even if it isn't the most efficient load ever to run.






But the card that Luke made me is the sweetest thing ever. I think.