Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day, and you know what that means!!  Well, in my house, it means that they are legally obligated to say "Thank you" as I do all the things I do every other day of the year.  Really, I don't need a "Mother's" day as much as I need a little less "Papi's" day.  So, while I rushed around this morning making their breakfast, a few thoughts were running through my head.  As I can't say everything I was thinking, I'll edit the list for you.

1.  Thank you to all of the mothers who inspired me to not rip my hair out when Maya wandered into my room for the fifth time in the middle of the night.  She's begun a new tradition of night walking, and I confess I'm not enjoying it with the enthusiasm I embrace our afternoon walks.
2. I'm grateful for all of the police investigation shows I watch after the girls go to sleep.  Without them, I would believe that I could get away with smothering the husband with the pillow he's snoring atop while I scramble his eggs to order.  Or using the cast iron pan to tap him upside his head.  Or pour his coffee into his eyes instead of his mug.  Many thanks to Law & Order SVU.
3. I wonder if my body will ever allow me to sleep past 5 am?  I wishfully didn't even set the alarm last night, but I was wide awake long before the sun.  My poor girls will one day be able to sneak out at night, but GOOD LUCK GETTING BACK IN!

I never thought I would be a mother.  I didn't play "babies" as a kid & I never enjoyed babysitting.  I didn't grow up scribbling names of future kids in a notebook or imagining what they would look like.  Then I became a mother.  And, from the moment the lines appeared on the test, I was grateful.  My girls are the most amazing gift anyone was ever given.  I'm exhausted and frazzled and overwhelmed.  And, for the first time, I am loved.  Not in the flowers and candy way, but in the I-fell-down-and-only-mama-can-make-it-better way.  And, in the my-mama's-food-is-better way.  And, in the it's-the-middle-of-the-night-I-just-want-to-see-my-mama way.  So, I'll get up six times every night for the rest of my life.  And, I'll get the breakfast on the table before their dreams are done every morning.  Because, while it may not always be Mother's Day, every day is a day I get to be a mother.  And, I can't think of a better thing to celebrate.