Why This Mother Hates Mother's Day

**Warning** This post is filled with incessant whining, complaining, and general grumbling. If you're in a chipper bubbly mood, and you don't want to be dragged down by my ceaseless whimpering, now would be a good time to move on. (Hey. This is my blog and I can whine if I want to.)

Ok, so you know how I devoted a whole post on why I hate Secretary's Day? Well, that's NOTHING. Now you get to hear why I loath Mother's Day. Oh, lucky you.

First, some background. My parents are divorced and both remarried. My husband's parents are ALSO divorced, and his dad is remarried. Are you following along? That makes FOUR (count 'em) mothers to worry about on Mother's Day. AND, they all live in this state. AND, they all think, no....they EXPECT that we spend Mother's Day with them. Sigh. (Well, no - slight exaggeration...really, my step-mom is perfectly content with a card, so really, THREE mothers expecting that we drop everything and spend the day pampering them.)

I usually spend my Mother's Day madly cleaning and cooking for one of the above-mentioned mothers. And, no matter what, we end up ticking off a mother on Mother's Day. Because if we choose one mother to have over, the rest will feel left out and mad. So we end up doing something on the Saturday BEFORE Mother's Day for some other above-mentioned mother. I tell ya - I end up exhausted by the end of Mother's Day weekend. Exhausted AND frustrated, because the one left out ends up mad at us for not doing something for them. We deal with this EVERY year. (I think the only person that hates Mother's Day more than me, would be husband. For all these reasons PLUS he gets to listen to ME every year...)

You're probably thinking...why don't have all the mothers over and have a big brunch for all of them? Nope. Can't do that. They're divorced, remember? No one wants to spend Mother's Day with their x-spouse and the new wife. (I don't blame them.)

Or maybe you're thinking that I need to be grateful that I HAVE 4 mothers still around to have over on Mother's Day. Yeah, I know. And I am. Really. I know I will miss all of them some day. (And that guilty feeling will probably overcome me and ruin future Mother's Days.)

Or I know - you're thinking - hey! Those mothers put in their time for a lot of years. They deserve pampering. Yes, you're right, and they do. But in my opinion, so do mothers that are in the throes of motherhood! Am I wrong? The mothers that are up all night with sick kids. The mothers that shuttle their kids to school, sports, activities. The mothers that are trying to be the best mother they can be AND work outside the home. Or the mothers that stay home FULL TIME and have sacrificed to do so for their children. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the idea. THESE are the mothers that Mother's Day should be about. These mothers - the ones that selflessly take care of others all year long need ONE day a year for them.

You know what? JUST ONCE, I would like to do something on Mother's Day for meeeeee. I would like to go out to a nice brunch with my husband and kids. And do it GUILT-FREE. This would be heaven for me. Then I would love to come home and sit around leisurely. Or work in the garden. Or take a quiet walk. And not have to cook or clean for anyone! Just ONE day I would love to do this. But alas, this will not happen anytime soon.

Why am I bringing all of this up NOW, in April when Mother's Day is next month? Well, because my husband's sister has announced that her kids are going to be baptized. Which is WONDERFUL! I am thrilled. And I ADORE my niece and nephew. But, guess which day she's picked for this lovely occasion? May 11th. Mother's Day. She wanted them to be baptized on her 'special day' (Mother's Day.) Which, I agree, is nice. BUT, it's also my special day. And every other mother that has to go's 'special day'. And this sister lives 1 1/2 hours away. So on Mother's Day THIS year, we will be getting up at the crack of dawn. I will be getting three children ready for church in the wee hours of the morning, and we will be on the road with three sleepy grumpy kids. And with the ceremony and reception afterwards, won't get home until late afternoon or evening.

Another Mother's Day down the tubes. The only good part? Two of the above-mentioned mothers will probably be at the baptism also. So I will only tick off MY mother this year. So there's your silver lining in the rain cloud.

Sigh. I TOLD you this post would be nothing but whining. But I'm done now. And it felt good to let it all out. And now I will put my happy face BACK on and buck up.

But before I do, let me say this: I am paying attention. I am taking notes and I will remember. When MY kids are all grown up? When MY daughter is a mother? I will make sure SHE gets pampered. And my sons? I will will make sure they pamper their wives when they are in the throes of motherhood. THAT's the real silver lining.

Checkin' on the Girls

Ok, so you remember a couple of weeks ago when the bees arrived? And we introduced them to their new home, our two new hives? Well, this past weekend, it was warm enough to open the hives and pay a visit to see how the girls were doing.

So of course, the first step is to don our bee suits. Here I am in mine!

We have three hives. One established one, and two new ones. We opened up the new ones first. Wow! They looked good. (Or at least from everything we've read, and from talking to longtime beekeepers, we think they looked good!)

See those frames of comb that my husband is looking at? Each frame contains about 7000 cells. The bees use these cells for storing food, making honey, and raising brood. Every time we inspect our colony, it's important that we note what's going on in these cells, because it helps us judge the performance and health of our bees. So we look for ample pollen and nectar, lots of eggs and brood, and if the wax cappings look normal.

Since this was the first time in the NEW hives, we took out the queen cage and made sure the queen had been released. Remember what that is? When the bees arrived, the queen was plugged (with a candy plug) in her cage. We found the cage, and as you can see, the plug is GONE, and the queen had been released. GOOD NEWS! In fact, everything about the two new hives looked great! We found signs that the queen has been busy. There were several eggs and lots of new larvae in the 'brooding chamber.' Yay! That means the hive has accepted the queen, and she is busy doing her job.

Do you see the queen in there? Ha ha. Yeah, she's impossible to see. Here's a closeup. See how's she's much longer than the others? And her markings are a little different.

Anyway, so everything looked wonderful. We're getting off to a great start!

As I'm sure you've figured out, my husband and I both LOVE beekeeping. We really love our bees! I know that sounds weird, but we truly do. We look forward to when we get to visit their hives again! They're such remarkable insects, with amazing endearing qualities. They're really very gentle creatures. Even though we have 3 hives, with bees flying all over our property, no one (visitors nor the 5 of us!) has ever been stung.

I think anyone that loves nature in its purest form would love bees and beekeeping like we do. It's a wonderful hobby!

My Baby Boy

Dear Cole,

Today you are 8. EIGHT! Wow. I can't even hardly believe it. You are such a big boy now. And what a wonderful boy you are!

I remember the day you were born. I had labor pains all day long, and when they got so bad I couldn't stand it, I told Daddy to get me to the hospital fast! I remember the doctors tried to tell me that my labor wasn't real, and that I should go home. I argued and argued with them because I KNEW you were coming fast! You were my third baby - I knew what I was talking about! But they insisted you were days away from arriving. I finally agreed to get up and go home and that's when you decided you'd make your entrance RIGHT THERE AND THEN! Ha ha! You freaked all the doctors and nurses out. (But I KNEW! I knew my baby boy wanted to make his arrival!) But when they got me QUICKLY settled back in bed and when you were born (so fast!) the excitement soon turned to worry. There was no cry. There was only silence and lots of concerned looks on doctors and nurses faces. And Daddy wasn't smiling. I didn't know it yet, but you were having difficulty breathing. Before I could even hold you, they rushed you off to the neonatal intensive care. We found out later that the umbilical cord was wrapped around your little neck twice. But they had you on oxygen for only a short time (an hour or so) and you rallied! You turned pink and started wailing like newborn babies do! I was never so glad to hold my newborn Coley as that moment they first brought you in. I smiled all night long holding you! Just you and me...

And ever since then? You're still making me smile. You have SUCH a sense of humor. You LOVE making others laugh. (Even if it means getting in trouble.) Teachers, coaches, and principals don't appreciate your humor as much as Mommy and Daddy do! Others see a goofball little boy, but what they don't see is your heart of gold. You don't show very many people, but when you do...it shines brightly!

I remember last summer after a week of daycamp, I went to your counselor to sign you out. He asked me to step aside because he needed to have a 'word' with me. (Ooooh no. I wondered what silly thing you might have done to get in trouble...) But this thought quickly faded as he began to tell me what you'd done all week. He said you befriended a little boy that didn't have anyone to play with. You gave him money every day (money that I'd given you!) so that he could go to the camp store and buy himself candy. He said you even prayed with him every day so that he could accept Jesus into his heart. Oh man. THAT, I think, was my proudest moment as your Mommy so far. I cried all the way home. They were tears of joy and tears of pride. My baby boy, who appeared to be a goofball on the outside, knew what it was all about. You knew then, at the tender age of 7, more than most grown-ups do, what it meant to be compassionate and Christ-like. I am looking forward to watching you grow (and savoring every moment!) so I can watch how you surprise others with your amazing qualities.

So today on your birthday, I asked you what you wanted for your birthday lunch. And as predicted, you chose avocados and cucumbers, with a side of vanilla soy milk. Ha ha! I knew you'd chose that, and I already had all of it purchased. What a funny boy you are. Your brother and sister didn't understand why you didn't chose candy or pizza or McDonalds. But you know what you like!

I hope some day when you're older, you read this. Because even know I've told you before, I want you to understand that I feel so incredibly blessed to have you as my son. There is no greater joy for a mother than to celebrate another year of watching her children grow. Another year of the 5 us being a family. Another year of watching you take a step closer to making your way in the world. I want you to know that I consider you as one of my absolute BLESSINGS in my life. I thank God for you each and every day. I love you, my sweet Cole. My brilliant, funny, kind, precious 8-year-old boy. Happy birthday.

Love, Mommy

Let's Make Up a Day, Go Out and Buy Flowers and Call it a Holiday, Shall We?

Ok.  So yesterday was Secretary's Day.  Or I guess it's now called "Administrative Assistant's" Day or "Administrative Professional's" Day.  Yeah, whatever. 

Sigh.

I will admit it - I hate Secretary's Day.  I do.  Part of this hatred stems from the fact that this is yet another irritating, ridiculous, made-up "holiday" that Hallmark created.  Another reason this day bothers me?  Well, because I never thought I'd be a secretary, and sometimes I can't get my brain around that I AM a secretary.  (By the way, this in no way is meant to degrade secretaries or administrative assistants or WHATEVER.  I am one, remember?)  Anyhoo, I didn't go to college to become a secretary.  I didn't get a Microbiology degree to become a secretary.  When I was a little girl, I didn't sit and dream of becoming a secretary.  (I know - this sounds awful.  It sounds like I'm being condescending toward secretaries.  That's not really what I want to do.  Really.  I DO think I make a difference in the lives of children here.  Don't believe me?  Read this post from last month.  But I'm saying I don't really want a day to point out that yes, indeed, I am a secretary.)

Ok.

So, yesterday, no one even remembered it was Secretary's Day.  Thank you, God.  Well, no one EXCEPT one of the third grade classes.  The students in that class made me some cards.  They drew me pictures, and wrote me lovely things.  And, oh my!  Some made me laugh out loud and some even made me cry.  Here are some, word for word:

"You are cute like this cat I drew. I wanted to buy you a cat but really where would I get the money?  I'm a kid remember? And your a secretary. And a pretty good one. But a cat would NOT be. Becase they can't type or get out band-aides."

 

"Thank you for all you do for us and you are the best ever. You sit in the office all day.  Gees you do that a lot. Don't you need a break? Why don't you take one for once. Today would be good for that."

 

"Happy birthd  Happy Secretary Day. I hope you have a good day. I hope you have a good week.  Heck I hope you have a great life."

 
And my favorite...

"Thank you for being are secretary. It must take a lot of coordination.  Did you go to school for that?  What. you got up one day and said hello I want to be the secretary at the best school ever?  ___yes  ___no  Well that's great.  Well I think I want to be one. If my mom allowed it maybe I could. Do you hafe to buy your own ice packs and bandaides?  And your computer to?  What. you just go in the store and say i am a secretary and need a computer. Oh I don't have that kind of money.  I only get $3 for allowence.  You sure give out alot of ice packs. And hugs. Doesn't this ever get tiring?  Or what. You hugged me after i gotted my splinter taken out. Remember God and Jesus love you"

I may have to change my stance on Secretary's Day because these cards are the best, aren't they?! 

Wordless Wednesday: Bald Eagle!

Every year in the Spring, the eagles show up around our property. They seem to love this tree, with the top broken off. We live sort of near a large river. So I think they rest here between hunting jaunts at the river. This one looks so majestic!

Wordless Wednesday