Mother's Day Ponderings

Here's the funny thing about the days I affectionately call "Hallmark holidays." They set up expectations that life will take a time out to be perfect because a calendar tells us they should be -- and then we live through guilt if anything goes asunder. 

Take, for example, Mother's Day.  Somehow as a mother I always feel like I'm supposed to transform into this Stepford-like woman for 24-hours on that third Sunday of May-- so if , say, I lose it with my kids when they don't listen or have to revert to my "stop it right now or you lose PS2" litany to halt their whining or bickering, I spend the rest of the day on a massive guilt trip.

Don't get me wrong.  I had a nice Mother's Day.  I got to sleep until 9:30. My kids gave me SingStar 90 and my husband presented me with the warm vanilla bath products I covet.  I belted out Black Hole Sun and You Can't Touch This at the top of my lungs while feeling smooth-skinned and smelling nice. We all went to see Speed Racer.

But I had my moments when life just didn't cooperate with the calendar.  Yes, I was cranky on Mother's Day.  Allergies were driving me crazy, I was crampy, and the kids were occassionally whiney.  But somehow at the end of the day, they still seemed to love me despite my human-ness. And as I sang Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head to each (part of our bedtime ritual) I knew I was doing ok as a mom -- and with kids as good as mine, maybe even doing great.

I'm a writer and mother who happens to write a lot about my children.  My literary heroes, to whom I strive to be in their company, are writers like Jean Kerr and Erma Bombeck.  They all knew this was not an easy gig, but captured the essence of motherhood with humor and grace.  I continuously strive to do so with my words and spirit.

In celebration of mother's day, some of my favorite quotes  about motherhood. Included are a couple from those grande dames of the written word, Kerr and Bombeck:

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it." Mark Twain

"Now the thing about having a baby - and I can't be the first person to have noticed this - is that thereafter you have it. " ~Jean Kerr

"I take a very practical view of raising children. I put a sign in each of their rooms: "Check out time is 18 years." Erma Bombeck

"Mothers are the most instinctive philosophers." Harriet Beecher Stowe

"Motherhood is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible." Marion C. Garretty

"I'd like to be the ideal mother, but I'm too busy raising my kids." Unknown

"A mother understands what a child does not say." Jewish Proverb

To all you mothers out there, hope you had a happy day.

Comments

[ccp417]

So true! Thanks for making me feel less guilty for being a less than perfect daughter ;)