Mothers Day: . I woke up and had a lovely quiet time with coffee, my Bible and my God and after about an hour, things started to go downhill. Miss Sassy was the first to wake and came downstairs frowning, disheveled and hunched over. "I can't move." she said. Then I noticed the pain on her face. Seven hours of grueling cheerleading tryouts the day before, sore muscles and the disappointment of not making the squad soured her mood. "What are the plans for today?" she asked. "'Cause I just want to rent a movie and sit." "Well, first we're going to church, then to lunch and then the beach." I said. "I'm not feeling well!" she yelled. I cheerfully explained that if she could sit around watching movies, then she could sit at church and at the beach - no movement required "Fine! I'll go to the stupid beach." Church wasn't mentioned and she sat, eyes downcast, staring at the floor. I had to take a deep breath and walk away. I asked her to get ready and found her, 20 minutes later, lying in bed. As I walked back downstairs I said, "Thanks for today. It's all about you I guess and you didn't even say Happy Mother's Day. I guess it's actually Crappy Mother's Day." Silence
I muttered to myself and the anger distracted me as I tried to pick out my clothes so I did something drastic. I shaved my legs. Yes! I decided I wasn't going to let a bratty teenager ruin the day with my other two children. I was going to put on a dress (I'm a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl) and celebrate my day, my way. I made myself pretty, got Spike and Little Mama ready and headed toward the door. By this time, Miss Sassy had come downstairs and I could tell she was disturbed by my activity and utter lack of dramatic yelling. "What are we going to do when we get back?" Spike asked on the way out. "After I clean up a bit and we have lunch, we're going to the beach together." I said as I shut the door. We left disheveled Miss Sassy to her own devices. It was tough, and I prayed my way through it; Mom guilt plagued me the entire ride to church. "God. Help me to be a good parent. Soften her heart, convict her deeply and help me remain soft." God always comes through.
He brought my 14-year old self to mind; I shuddered as I remembered the time my mom gave me $ 25.00 to buy a gift for my dad on Father's Day. I went to the mall, bought a couple pack of cigarettes for me and my friends. I ate a cheeseburger and an ice cream Sundae at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and ended up with (gulp) 11.00 left over. I subsequently got busted by my mom for the smokes, endured her rage at my disrespect for her and my dad and had to watch him open the gift, the gift that every dad wants.....a white porcelain mouse, arms wide open with a red scroll that said, "I Love You This Much." He was speechless and I'll never forget the shame I felt at that moment. Sometimes silence says more than words, so I decided to remain silent and give it over to God.
The church service was amazing and the message was on....rules and rebellion. Pastor Jeff spoke about our own rebellion toward God and cracked us up with stories from his own life. I thought about my husband and I - both rebels - and realized there's a good chance we'd pass that tendency down to our own kids. My heart softened and my crappy Mother's Day got better. Still, I was prepared to let my silence speak the words I couldn't. As I turned the key in the lock to our house, I could hear music blasting inside. I sarcastically thought, "Well, how nice for her, she got to stay home and enjoy herself." We walked in and right away I noticed something different. The house was sparkling. I mean, the place was literally shiny and beautiful. I couldn't help but smile and she, sitting on the couch, no longer disheveled, was sparkling too. I silently hugged her. "I'm sorry." she said as she hugged back. I thanked her for the work she'd done and she said, "I heard you say you were going to have to clean when you came home so I did it for you." She led me through the house - she'd even cleaned my bathroom and I didn't have to clean one thing. We ended the day together, the Rebel, Spike and Little Mama, went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" at the movies. A happy mother's day after all.
Love. It conquers all. I'm so glad you ended up having a good day :)
Posted by: Lisa A | 05/09/2010 at 09:15 PM