Happy Mother's Day! A Tribute to My Mother

This is actually a repost from last year.  But last year, it was two weeks late.  So I guess this kind of makes it early... Or a year late..  No matter, it's still true this year.


 Adam has to be at church an hour and a half earlier than me because they are having a book discussion before church. Since we don't have classes in the morning, I take full advantage of my extra time at home since there would be no book discussing if my kids were there. Typically, the girls play nicely just until Adam leaves and soon after he makes his departure, the chaos begins.  I have a long held hunch that they spend their time while daddy is at home, quietly plotting how to push mom over the edge once dad leaves.  After a morning of harldy being seen,  Adam walks out the door,  and they appear right under my feet.

Anyway, I being the flip flop kind of girl that I am,  just love the fact that I can find a pair of flip flops with a little bit of a heal on them and some beads on the straps and call them dress shoes. So, on this particular day (Mother's Day), I put on my "dressy" flip flops and noticed that my toe nail polish was chipped on the ends. In my normal Sunday single mother rush, I ran into the bathroom and grabbed the nail polish and touched up the ends of my toes. Declaring it a decent job unless someone looks closely, I moved on to the mirror for makeup. About that time, Chloe, stepped on my toe.. My freshly painted toenail!

In typical, Sunday morning rush fashion, I felt the irritation rising inside me.   But, I repressed the irritation, in honor of the day, feeling the need to be a sweet, patient, mother, therefore earning the honor. And, I began to think about a particular Mother's Day with my mother....

 I was about seven years old. I had only a few dollars that I am assuming that I got from her in the first place. So I went to Family Dollar with my dad and I bought my mom the most beautiful I had ever seen- three dollar-Pepto Bismal pink- plastic set of beads. Both necklace and bracelet. (Nice job of guiding that one dad).

Now I'm pretty crafty at handling this type of situations with my children. My solution would be something of this sort: "Oh wow, these are the most beautiful beads that I have ever seen. I don't have a dress to match this color of pink but I have the perfect pajamas! So tomorrow night, we are going to have a candlelit mother daughter pajama dinner! And I am going to make all of our favorite foods and then we are going to talk about all things that we love about each other and I am going to wear these beautiful beads". Now, I have no doubt that this would work with Emma and she would think I was the coolest mother in the world for it.


But heres the thing... Twenty four years later (yes I did count on my fingers), I remember the dress that my mother pulled out of the closet saying that it would go perfectly with those beads. That dress was not pink. It was more of a rose color and it did not match those horrible beads.. And I remember how she ooohed and ahhed as she had me clasp that necklace around her neck. And when we got to church and I realized that all the other mothers had corsages and I hadn't gotten my mother one. My mother told me not to brag because the other mothers only got a flower and not beautiful beads that they could wear over and over again. And I sat there next to my mother not yet fully understanding why she was truly the best mother in world but, feeling confident that I was definitely the best daughter in the world. And you know what? When I called her this year on Sunday morning to wish her a Happy Mother's Day, and mentioned the beads, she told me that she still had them and she still thought they were beautiful. And when I really think about it,  I know that those sort of situations were probably, the most influential situations of my life. No matter how bad I fumble, my mom is always there, cheering me on, thinking I'm great. And I know that I will always have that security.


And so, there were all of those thoughts over a simple smudge in toenail polish. And inspired by my mother, I reached down and fluffed Chloe's hair and took a step in the direction of being the kind of mother mine was and wore my smudge to church.  And it was a wonderful day!

Blessings,

Dana

Anti-Minivan Moms Look Up

This is dedicated to all of my mom friends who are still under the illusion that they're too cool for a minivan :).  Thanks Mandy!  I needed a laugh.





Blessings,

Dana

Emma's Straight A's Celebration

In the Spotlight...

Because she'd never miss the chance to be on stage, Emma was in a fundraiser fashion show that her school had.  It was reported to me from backstage that Emma was heard saying, "Oh, there's a ton of people out there?  Yay!  Even better!".  If I didn't know that she never left me in the hospital after she was born, I would swear she was switched at birth.  There is a video of this but Adam was having some formatting issues.  We'll hopefully have that soon. 

NO SCHOOL!!!

Spring Break has come to an end :(.  But what a wonderful week it was.  Nonna and Pawpaw came for Easter, our friend Matt visited and we made a little overnight trip to meet up with our friends Jay and Sarah Jane.  Yesterday, we finished Spring vacation off with mommy and me pedicures for Emma and me.

When I walked by Emma's room last night, on my way to bed, she had slipped an envelope under her door with this note inside. 

  I probably should have been a little concerned but, since this is the kid that normally sets her own alarm clock because she's so excited to go to school the next day, I was secretly, a little thrilled that she knew she was going to miss me.   She got up without a problem this morning and went out the door with a happy kiss. I've come to think that the note was more about her wanting to show me that I'm still the most important person in her life.  For the benefit of my heart.   So, one day when you read this Emma, thank you for being careful with my heart.  It's hard for me to have it walking around on the outside of me. 

We needed that time together.  We did some fun activities.  But, I think we can owe the credit of such a wonderful week, to taking time to rest and just be together.  I miss her.  I miss being the person that spends the most time with her.  The world needs her and she needs the world.  But, every now and then, I like to hide her away for me.   And in the future, I plan to assert that right as a mother and do it more often. 

And maybe, when a rainy day comes along, I'll catch up on all my pictures.  But, a computer and sunlight isn't a great combination and for now, we'll be quenching our thirst for sun.  And, so the count down to summer vacation begins!

Blessings,

Dana

What Tiger Should have said...

And if you ask me personally, I'll give you the non-edited version. Because I'm telling you, this one is prettied up A LOT!!!

So here it goes: What Tiger should have said, "It's none of your freakin business you self-centered people who think even my sex life revolves around you. I am so sorry that you didn't get the "celebrities don't make good role models" memo when Brittany Spears lost her ever lovin mind and led all of our tweens down the road to being lunatic bimbos. Maybe you should stop trying to give the role that is rightfully yours to someone who doesn't even know your child. The only concern you should have about my life is whether or not I can still swing the golf club. And if you haven't noticed, I can. So, keep your eye on the ball.

Apologies only to my wife and children and the God that I may never know because you've made it so very clear that He would never accept me".

Mary Did You Know?

I guess it's not surprising that in the story of Jesus, I identify with Mary the most. Imagining the pain of a mother. I think she did know.. The fear of the future, of the responsibility, the weight of a life filled with such bittersweetness, of such joy and sorrow that was placed on a her, still being much of a child herself. Be still my heart.

Today...

Today, I left the mess at my house and I went to the park with my friend Lu.  The only expectation for the day was that we would spend time visiting with the knowledge that if one of our children beat the crap out of the others, we would still be friends tomorrow.  She even commented on how clean my (not clean at all) van was.  The comparison: Mine didn't have near as many crumbs in the floor as hers. 

These kind of friendships are few and far between.  So in the future, I will make friendships like these a top priority in my life.  Because, I need them.  And next time, before I go, I will spread more crumbs on the floor of my van.  Because I care more about loving my friend than hiding my messes and looking like I've got it all together. 

And to you I wish a lifetime of friendships worth getting a little messy for.

Blessings,

Dana

Who are you and what did you do with my kids?

What's this?  No hitting, biting, scratching, screaming?

It's alright little darlin.  Here comes the sun.

I'm Sorry I'm a Christian

WARNING:  This clip is not for everyone.    There is the use of a certain four letter word that some would consider the worst of profanity.  That four letter word is an acronym for the phrase, "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge".  If you don't get the point that I'm trying to make here... If you're easily offended, you've been warned.  You have every freedom to move the arrow over the "X" and make your exit.  If you choose to view this, I take no responsibility for any offense that might be taken. 

At first, I thought, "man I wish he hadn't used that word because now it's going to be harder for me to use that clip".  But then I realized that part of the point he was trying to make was that his concern isn't for his fellow Christians and their sensibilities.  It was a whole other group entirely that his amazing poem was trying to reach.  But still, it spoke to me..   Because, I know, my stains are there on the name of God.  And, I too, am sorry..





Blessings,

Dana