Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day, so before I say anything else, I would like to wish all of the mothers out there a wonderful day (or that you've had a great day). On this day, let the people you love celebrate you and all you do and are. Let them express their love and appreciation for you in their way. It may not look the same as your ideal celebration would, but if it is a sincere expression of their love and gratitude, it is a blessing and should be accepted as such.

You may ask yourself why I may have sounded a little preachy in the last few sentences of the first paragraph. Well, here goes. For Mother's Day this year, my husband took me and our boys to a baseball game. We had great seats (where the foul balls are usually caught) in the sixth row, the weather was perfect and the kids lasted through the entire game with no mishaps.

For those of you who do not know this, a baseball game is not my idea of a wonderful day for mommy. The pollen count must have been a zillion, the sun was extremely strong (on my face) and I don't particularly enjoy crowds or the knowledge that, at any moment, a large projectile may come at me or my family at upwards of however many miles an hour. Now that I have set the stage, you can imagine how thrilled I was to attend a baseball game on Mother's Day.

I tried to explain to my husband that taking me to a baseball game for Mother's Day was like me taking him to an Avalon concert for Father's Day. While he may eventually enjoy it, the choice of gift would be more about me than him. I think he finally got it when I used the Avalon analogy (I'm pretty sure he doesn't know who they are), but I don't know that his choice of gift will change much in the future.

You see, my husband's goal was to give me a day with the family. He wanted to give me time, which is something I often ask him to do. He wanted to give me a few hours of happy kids, happy, attentive husband, and together time. Surprise of surprises, he succeeded. Would I have had that at the spa? Would the day have been as nice if we had stayed at home (I'm an incorrigible homebody) and stared at each other all day? Would the gift have meant as much if it hadn't been from the heart or if it hadn't involved spending TIME with him?

My husband gave me the one thing he has the hardest time giving, the thing that means the most to him outside of his family - time. Did it look exactly the way I thought I wanted it to? Did it look exactly the way it would have if I had given it? No. But if I'm honest with myself, it was so much more wonderful because it came from him. It was so him and to love him means that I love his expression of love.

So, what did I learn on this Mother's Day? What precious morsel of wisdom do I come away with this evening? It's quite simple, actually. I need to let the people who love me do it in their own way without looking at it through glasses colored by my way of doing things, my absolute "knowledge" that only I know how to express love. Sometimes, I have to look past the package to recognize and celebrate the gift itself.