On the better late than never front, Happy Mother’s Day! In the past 3 weeks I’ve made three separate trips to the west coast, and I’m a little behind in my blogging, but mothers are important, and I wanted to honor them.
When faced with this topic, I did my usual drill and researched. I fired up the Google and discovered that almost every country in the world celebrated Mother’s
Day in one way or another. The first known Mother’s Day was celebrated by Anna Jarvis of West Virginia in 1908, and President Woodrow Wilson made it an official holiday in the United States in 1914.
While that is interesting, the “just the facts ma’am” approach doesn’t convey the sentiment of the holiday.
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I asked my mother why there was a Mother’s Day and a Father’s Day but no Children’s Day. With a look somewhere between bemusement and exhaustion, she answered, “every day is children’s day.” What a crock! I wasn’t buying it one bit.
Decades later I became a mother. It wasn’t until then that I realized how right she was, although not in the way she intended.
The greatest blessing I have ever received is our daughter. What a splendid woman she is!
At times the road was rocky – 5 months of severe morning sickness, Bozo the Clown red hair dye in middle school, being instructed that I was not allowed to speak while driving car pool (and “no listening either”), experiencing the full range of emotions known to mankind (and some no one has discovered yet) during a 30 minute dinner, and being told by my precious 3 year old that I had no taste in clothes and she would not leave the house in what I had picked out. I look back now and laugh at the wonderful memories we share. As she reminds me from time to time, I never wanted a dud kid and ours gave us a run for our money.
But the most wondrous part of being a mother is seeing everything through new eyes and with genuine curiosity. Rediscovering the world and what’s in it is an amazing gift. Even through the terrible twos, which prompted my mother to declare, “I’m glad I lived long enough to see justice done”, motherhood was a wonderful ride.
Our daughter is brilliant, so keeping her from getting bored with school was always a challenge. She kept our minds sharp wanting to know all about everything. When we traveled, she came along and seeing Paris and London through the eyes of a not quite eight year old was amazing. From her choice of visiting the Picasso museum to her ordering duck and tea in French, wow what a ride!
Every day of motherhood has been a joy for me despite the occasional challenges. So for me, everyday is Children’s Day, when I celebrate the extraordinary child who calls me “mommala”.
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