Special Occasions, The Reality

If someone had told me 14 years ago that getting married on the same weekend as Mother's Day was not a good idea, I feel confident I would not have listened to them.  I should have.  It seemed like a great idea at the time.  Ryan and I were so young and so ready to get married that it seemed like the first weekend after our college exams would be the perfect time to go for it.  

Then we tried to get a florist, that experience should have clued me in.  Did you know that florists don't do weddings on Mother's Day weekend?  Apparently Mother's Day is a big deal.  It took 3 florists to get our flowers covered.  One did my bouquet, another was willing to take the flowers for the wedding party, and another took care of the candelabras and decorative flowers.  That meant nothing to a young bride like me, I was in love and I wanted to get married.

Fast forward 14 years.  Now I'm the mom of 5, and I'm tired.  Life has been especially trying the last few months and though I desperately want something to celebrate, I don't have the energy to make it happen.  The last thing I need is not one, but two things that should be acknowledged and hoorahed over.  So I muster the energy to clean my house and prepare for all the grandparents to come and celebrate Mother's Day.  I make it through the weekend with a pitiful attempt at a gift for the grandmas, knowing they deserve so much more than I have managed to muster up.  I struggle with the guilt of knowing it's a pathetic excuse at thanking them for all the sacrifices they've made for the past 30 something years.  I smile at the sweet offerings of thanks that my children and husband bring and think about how much I love them and about how they deserve so much more from me too.

Then I take a nap.  After all, Monday is coming and the Iowa tests are waiting, along with the extra laundry that comes from a weekend of house guests.  I wake up and vaguely consider the fact that our anniversary is just 2 days away.  I realize I have no plan, I ought to fix that, then I go start a load of laundry.  

I wake up on the morning of May 12th and get ready for a morning at the office.  We've got an especially important staff meeting at the church office today and then I need to get each of the kids through another IOWA testing session before our 4:30 piano lessons.  I look at my sweet sleeping husband and remember, oh, it's our anniversary!  I nudge him, tell him "Happy Anniversary," and head out the door, thinking to myself that I ought to at least pick up a card on my way back to the house.  

The day progresses- I managed to remember to stop and pick up turtle food, while forgetting the card.  I managed to get all the kids through a testing session, while forgetting to put the chicken in the crock pot.  It's a wash.  Finally, 3:45 the phone rings.  My husband calls to ask me what's for dinner and I confess my irresponsibility with the crockpot.   He informs me that it's okay because he's scheduled a sitter and we're going out.  Ah, that man, I love him!   A whole evening of uninterrupted conversation lies ahead.  I quickly change clothes so that I can be ready to leave as soon as we return from piano.  I find the time to stop by the CVS and at least get a card to contribute to the occasion.  Now, we're on the right track!

The next 90 minutes go off flawlessly.  Before I know it, we're headed down 401 toward freedom.  My tastebuds are already anticipating the hot meal I' m going to eat and the dishes I'm not going to wash.  Now, this is worth celebrating.  Phone rings.  The sitter explains that Lily just threw up all over the bathroom.  U-turn.  Frustration.  Hardee's drive-thru on the way home.  I hurry in to my poor, sick baby and send the sitter off with great apologies.  Fifteen minutes pass and Lily looks at me and asks if she can go outside and play.  I roll my eyes, look at my husband and laugh at the reality that is my life.   I take comfort in the fact that it is one of many seasons.

To everything there is a season,

a time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die;

a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

a time to kill and a time to heal ...

a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance ...

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to lose and a time to seek;

a time to rend and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent and a time to speak;

a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.