It’s What Mom Really Wants for Mother’s Day

A good night’s sleep. Without interruption.


A clean house. Without asking for it.


Food in the fridge. With the shelves cleaned out before the new stuff goes in.


Breakfast in bed. With dark chocolate on the side.


Time to read a book. Without pictures.


Laundry folded. As if you knew that.


What mom really wants for Mother’s Day is for you to be her mind-reader. To know before she even asks for it what it is she really wants.


Moms of newborns and toddlers are too sleep-deprived to be articulate. You need to figure her out because she cannot quite put her desires into words. Moms of teens are too emotionally-charged to be sensible. You need to understand that she is hormonally-challenged (very low in the estrogen department) at exactly the same time that she is parenting other hormonally-challenged creatures (very high in the testosterone or estrogen departments) who, for the first time ever, are witty enough, quick enough and strong enough to stand up to her! (I never understood this law of nature by the way!) Moms with fully-grown kids are both thrilled at new-found freedoms but saddened by the lack of feathers in their nests. You need to provide her with the stimulation of which she had become accustomed.


I find that my own desires for Mother’s Day change with each passing year. They have ranged from getting away from it all to a deep-seated desire to be particularly close to home. From hoping for another baby to praying for a completely-healed teenager. And from material desires ranging from a new mixer for my kitchen to a completely new kitchen.


Motherhood always involves evolution. For its twists and turns take us to places both fully-expected and completely improbable. It requires re-invention, both of yourself and of your role. I marvel now at how I evolved from picking up my toddler’s toys only to stand back and watch them pick up after themselves for a few golden years…only to evolve once again to having to pick up after them as their teen brains have seemingly cleared out all of those cells holding the memory of exactly how to do just that!


However you choose—or happen—to spend this Mother’s Day, I hope that it gives you just the space you desire. Whether in the company of those you love or in the solitude of total silence; at home or far away; with your spouse and kids or without. That you get one day—if only one—to be the queen of your castle and of your kingdom. Big or small. Noisy or quiet. Celebrate the lives in your care. And may you feel blessed.


Wishing you a wonderful week!


Carolina