We’re having deja vu here. Last year, we asked our kids what they thought of us. To summarize, Ellen’s kids thought she looked like this:
Erin’s kids thought she looked like this:
My Kids tell me I look like Betty Crocker
Yeah, that’s right. One of us got the better end of that stick, but nobody’s keeping score. Jealousy is an ugly thing even when you just can’t help it, and especially when Fate seems to treat one Sister like a princess and the other like, well, the ugly stepsister. Apparently, Fate wasn’t finished doling out the special treatment either.
This year, Ellen didn’t have just a great Mother’s Day. She got an amazing Mother’s Day weekend. Friday night was tennis, wings, and a movie with her crew. Put that in your pipe and paint it, Norman Rockwell. In other news, I was busy decorating a gym for the eighth grade dinner dance.
But that’s not all. Ellen hates with the heat of a thousand burning suns going out to eat in a restaurant on Mother’s Day. The runny eggs and lukewarm home fries combined with being crammed in like cattle results in a recipe for food poisoning and familial Armageddon in her book. So her family, in deference to her wishes, all went out to eat on Saturday which is not only sheer genius, but a lovely gesture that proves she has not just been grumbling to herself the last 14 years. She had a lovely lunch with her girls and her mom and managed to avoid being felled by salmonella or e.coli. Call Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
But the creme de la creme was her Sunday. Her Day of Blissful Nothingness began with her sleeping in way past her usual time when she was awakened to her family making her breakfast. At this point, her day morphed into “The Day that Shizz Which Never Gets Done Got Did!” Her husband, Frank, who could be described as Husband-of-the-Year but never Mr. Handy-Around-the-House was in rare form. He trimmed shrubs, pulled weeds, and even took out a small bush–better than any coffee mug or perfume by far. Yes, Ellen did feel the tremor in the universe, but she decided to take it for what it was, a Mother’s Day miracle.
This is what a perfect Mother’s Day looks like!
Aww, shucks.
Erin’s Mother’s Day was, well, slightly more, how shall we say, real.
On Friday night, Steve asked me, “So what do you want for Mother’s Day?”
Them’s words that make a woman wanna grab her gun and get moving!
Less than 48 hours until the big day and we’re still talking gift ideas!? Hmmmmm.
So I countered with “A dog. Or a trampoline.”
Two soccer games, one track meet, and a middle dinner dance later, on Sunday, we were pointing the minivan westward to visit my family. After the 10th trip to pack the car, the crew was waiting for me with a beautiful plant for the front porch.
Aww, shucks.
But nothing says “I love Mom” like a trampoline, so we were on a mission. Because we live in the middle of a county with more cornfields than shopping malls, we stopped just long enough in the “big city” (Google Frederick, MD to really appreciate my hyperbole) to pick up our trampoline. As the men were loading our 400 pounds of trampoline into the trunk, they said, “Good luck getting that out!” That is exactly the kind of humor we’re looking for when we’re driving with 7 people 4 hours round trip in 1 day. It’s the kind of math that makes you long for the days of algebra.
The rest of the afternoon was spent cousin-ing at my parents’ house. The following is a montage of images from that day.
We call this one, “Baby Licking Window”
We call this one, “Pile O’ Kids”
We call this one, “Twirly Girls”
I call this one, “Mama Love”
In many ways, the whole day was the sweet, cracked family moment I have come to expect. But when we got home, I got my real gift. My boys armed with headlamps and flashlights worked from the moment we got home into the night to set up my present for me. In case, you were wondering, true love looks like this. . .
Hope you all had a lovely Mother’s Day!
Erin and Ellen
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Well both of you had better Mother’s days than I did. My husband ran to the store at 3 in the afternoon and came back with a single rose and said.. I forgot it was Mother’s day. ONE kid remembered to tell me when he rolled out of bed at 2 pm and I had already been up for nearly 6 hours. BUT My hubby did grill chicken for me on his grill, I just had to cook everything else.. ahem.
Southern Angel recently posted..I was going to complain .. then Oklahoma got hit by a tornado…
Both of your days sound pretty great. Mine was good, until my kids gave up at 7 pm and turned back into pumpkins.
Does Ellen’s costume come in an m&m pattern?
Dana recently posted..Nellie Olsen to Chandler Bing – My Fave Movie and TV Characters
Those both sound like good days to me, even the trip to the big city.
Ginger Kay recently posted..Are we too self-deprecating?
I hope they got you a package or 10 of Depends. Everytime I get on our trampoline I pee my pants. It’s one of those “humorous yet emotionally traumatizing moments’ that only mothers can appreicate. However, pee aside, I can do a mean front flip. It’s ok to be jealous.;) You can get there too with practice- and proper panty liners;)
vicky
Vicky recently posted..It’s my party and I’ll overshare if I want to!
At least both of your days made for a great blog post 🙂 Ellen’s Mother’s Day miracle was not happening around my house…but that’s okay. I had moments of miracle-like behavior on Mother’s Day, at least. And Erin – I’m glad you ended up with the trampoline. I hope you plan to jump on it every day 🙂
Katie E recently posted..What I Learned at Bloggy Boot Camp – Charlotte
sounds like you both had a great day!
and I do so like to sleep in and then wake up to do…nothing.all.day.
although, a trampoline that occupies the kids for hours?
that’s the gift that keeps on giving.
Rorybore recently posted..Pondering: Like the Wind
Worth it’s weight in gold, let me tell ya! Erin