Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers!
As we all know this is the day that we set aside to celebrate our mothers. We get them gifts, send them cards, take them to dinner or to church. It’s a great love day. I remember when I was a kid we would make homemade cards and gifts and giggle happily when Mom opened them. She would always smile appropriately and say thank you. Those were the days.
Now that I am a mother this day is always very interesting for me. My kids see all the commercials advertising jewelry and other expensive things and they walk by me and say, “If I could afford it, I get you that Mom.” Whatever. They are at the ages where they would much rather buy something than make something. They have no idea how I treasured those homemade cards and gifts. I still have every single one. I have a statue of a woman made of different colored wire and stapled to a wooden block. On the block the words “Best Mom Ever” are scrawled in black magic marker. It is displayed in my bedroom and it’s probably the best Mother’s Day gift that I have received to date.
I was looking forward to spending a very quiet day with the kids. I don’t require a lot of hoopla and I would prefer to just chill. However, B had something else in store. He decided to take his mother out for brunch today. I thought that was very thoughtful of him until he invited me and my children to join them. “Why don’t you just spend some time with your mom?” I asked. “Because I want to spend time with you too,” he responded. Now, don’t get me wrong – I really appreciated the invitation and if it were to be just B and his mom then I wouldn’t have been so hesitant. But in addition to B’s mom was B’s brother and sister.
To say that it’s difficult to be in their presence would be an understatement. To say that they are dysfunctional would also be an understatement. Everyone in their family has some level of OCD. All of them. His brother has it the worst and he is on medication. B has a touch and his sister has a touch. The mother … she’s just old … as sweet as she can be … but she’s old.
Being with them is pure comedy. Now, before we left, my son told me that he wanted to pay for me. I thought that was sweet so I made sure to tell B ahead of time. Okay, so we’re all there making pleasant conversation. I’m noticing that every time B gets up for any reason his brother asks “Where’d B go?” over and over again until he returned to the table. It was a beautiful buffet and B’s mother told my kids that they could go up as many times as they want. She told them that about five times. During the meal my ex-husband called to wish me a Happy Mother’s Day. Why did he have to do that? B starts bugging out and making remarks like, “Why is he calling you? Are you guys on good terms? When did that happen?” I got fed up and said, “Look, I’m his daughter’s mother … he should be calling me today!” Seriously though, I’m one of three baby mamas that I’m sure he had to call today – it wasn’t an issue.
The part of the meal that I hated the most was when the check came. B invited his family out to brunch and in his mind it was understood that he would be taking care of the bill. Why does everyone start reaching for their wallets and throwing money on the table? I hate that! When you come out to eat with me DO NOT fight over the check. It is not that serious. When I’m out with friends I will always expect to pay my own way but if you open your mouth and say, “I got it”, trust me, I will let you get it. Don’t say it expecting me to insist. I won’t do it. These people are throwing money at B and he’s throwing it back and they’re throwing it back at him … it was crazy. Finally, he allowed them to leave the tip. Then, he almost didn’t let my son pay for me … that bothered me because it meant a lot to my child to be able to do something for me on Mother’s Day and I wasn’t going to let him take that away from him.
I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Once we left I got in my car and drove home. I got in my bed and watched movies all afternoon. Which is how I wanted to spend my Mother’s Day anyway.
What is meant to be will be
