I love Mother’s Day, sort of.
I mean, we don’t make a big production of it. We don’t have the time or energy to make a big production of much of anything. But I love being a mother, and I love being Baguette’s mother.
I wasn’t always Baguette’s mother, though, and Mother’s Day has an iffy track record with me.
My mother was great. But she passed away, which continues to be heartbreaking. I don’t remember a lot of Mother’s Day celebrations, although we always did something. Typically, my present to her was along the lines of a movie we could watch together and food we could eat together while watching the movie together.
My mom was really about togetherness.
But she died in 2002, and Mother’s Day 2003 was The. Worst. I went to church, which turned out to be a mistake. (Too many moms.) And that night I went to pick up Chinese food, which she had always loved. I could barely make it into and out of the restaurant–I was so glad I had decided to order ahead, rather than eat there. (Too many moms. Way, way too many moms.)
Since then, Mother’s Day has been bittersweet.
Frankly, I can’t tell you what I did for each of my Mother’s Days since becoming a mother.
Wait, maybe I can. (Looks at back blog posts.) Okay, I have no idea what I did in 2011. The other years, it was mostly casual dinner, with or without inlaws. One year, Baguette put stickers on my arm.
We know how to party.
But I do remember my first Mother’s Day. Mr. Sandwich said, “What do you want?” And I answered, “See’s Candies. Wait. See’s Candies and a chance to wash my hair.” And I got them.
This year, we went to Discovery Cube LA, a new science museum that’s opened in our general part of Los Angeles. Baguette found a few things that interested her, but I think it may be a better match in another 2-3 years. And Mr. Sandwich is out back, building me the charging station I want for our “office” that I want to totally reorganize and make less of an office and more of a reading/project/play space.
Nothing bitter about that. Today is feeling pretty sweet.
I’m big on Mother’s Day . . . I realize it’s an “invented holiday” and everything — but I love taking a day to say “hey, you’re a mother and you’re special.” Since I was a kid, the day was all about figuring out what my mom needed to have done, and then doing it.
Now that I’m all grown up & stuff, the early morning (before church, because, well, we have to go to church with me being the organist & Duffy teaching Sunday school) is all about my wife/mother of my children. Then we go to my mom’s and garden & do chores.
Then we go to my sister’s, and we grill and enjoy each other’s company.
It’s turned into a pretty special tradition . . . heck, it’s probably as deeply seated as Christmas or Easter or Thanksgiving by now.
I am in favor of holidays that are about family. I might feel differently if I didn’t have family I like this much.
Mother’s Day has been a hit or miss. Usually it’s so chaotic trying to get to both families’ events that I wish Mother’s Day was just for moms to be alone 🙂 This year was pretty good though, I think now that the kids are older. So sorry to hear about your mom. I hadn’t thought about how Mother’s Day would feel like without mine. And this is the first I’ve heard of the Discovery Cube. I’ll be checking that out too!
Sometimes we get together with my in-laws, who are local. My dad and stepmom live in the Bay Area, so we usually just make a phone call, but everyone is as included as we can manage.