Tag Archives: Mothers Day

Doggone it, It’s Mother’s Day

May 2, 2016 11:08 am ,

Doggone it, It's Mother's Day

A few weeks ago Pete and I went out to dinner with our friends Linda and Bill.

I called Linda to make arrangements. “We’ll pick you up,” I offered. “Six forty-five okay?”

“Sounds good,” Linda answered. “I can feed Greta, Parker and Charlie before we leave.”

“You think we’ll be done by 8:30-ish?” I asked. “Max and Wyatt should be fine, but I worry about them being alone for too long.”

“Totally get it,” Linda said.  “I want to get home to our guys too.”

A mother’s job is 24/7.

At the restaurant we met up with two other couples. It was a lively scene, a boisterous atmosphere, and the eight of us had to practically yell to be heard.

Of course we all pulled out our cell phones to share the latest photos of our families.

“Look how big Max is getting!” Susan exclaimed as she peered at my phone. “How much does he weigh now?”

“Last time we checked he was 41 pounds,” I said, as Pete nodded in affirmation. “He’s going to be a big boy.”

“He did the cutest thing today,” I added.

Mimi cupped her hand to her ear. “Who did the cutest thing? Your daughter?”

“No, Max,” I shouted. “Look at this photo. Adorable, right?”

Mimi smiled. “Awww. Look at his face. Such a handsome boy.”

Bill pulled up a photo on his phone and shared it with me. “Look at them! They are all so precious,” I crooned as I scrolled through photo after photo of his three darlings. “Are they still sleeping in your room every night?”

“At least two of them,” he answered. “I keep telling Linda to move over and make room.”

Linda acknowledged that this was true.

“We hardly go out anymore,” she confided. “We’d rather just stay home on a Saturday night and cuddle with our guys. There’s nothing better, right?”

Pete nodded vigorously. “Why go out when we’ve got everything at home? Netflix has changed our lives.”

“Speaking of which,” I said, tapping my watch, “where are our drinks?” I searched the restaurant for our waiter. “Geez, they’re slow here.”

“I hope Max and Wyatt won’t be upset if we’re late,” Pete said. “Maybe we should bring them a doggie bag to make up for it.”

 

Doggone it, It's Mother's Day

Doggone it, It's Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is on Sunday, and there is still time to find something special to let the mother in your life know how much she is appreciated. What, you forgot haven’t gotten to it yet? With the lovely Mother’s Day selection at Hallmark, there is no need to look further. Check out these adorable Mother’s Day gifts that you can find at any Hallmark Gold Crown store or Hallmark.com.

 

Doggone it, It's Mother's Day

Thanks to Hallmark, one of my lucky readers will receive this giveaway pack including a “Some Things We Hold Onto Forever” pillow and “Love Only Grows” framed print as well as Signature and Kim Mallory greeting cards. Simply leave a comment below and a winner will be randomly selected.

Happy Mother’s Day to all moms, no matter who it is you mother!

I received this giveaway box from Hallmark but received no other compensation.

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With Love to My Mother

May 8, 2015 9:22 am ,

Last weekend my family celebrated a very special occasion: my future daughter-in-law’s bridal shower. Surrounded by love, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing of family and friends.

With Love to My Mother

That’s me third from right, with my two daughters on either side. My mother is on the far right. My daughter-in-law and her mother are on the left.

My mother joked, “It all started with me,” and she was right. To honor her this Mother’s Day, I am sharing a post I wrote several years ago.

♥♥♥♥♥

Capturing lightning bugs and dropping them in a glass jar with holes slit in the lid. Running full force into flapping bed sheets drying on our clothesline that smelled like sunshine. Licking bits of cookie dough from my sticky fingers. Bike rides and lots of books and flashlight tag with the neighborhood kids and sleepovers and Saturday matinees and piano lessons and summer camp and July 4th fireworks …

These are the things of which happy childhoods are made.

curly hair, little girl, swing

My mother’s greatest gift was being a mother who knew that.

She and my father gave my brother and me a childhood filled with the important things in life: love, acceptance, passion, and humor.

She also knew when discipline was necessary and stuck to her guns despite my wailing protestations, something I found out years later was one of the hardest jobs of motherhood.

Cute I may have been, but I could be a handful, and I knew my mother looked forward to Saturday nights when she and my dad went out to dinner with their friends and got away from us kids for a few hours.

While my dad left to pick up either Sharon or Kay Lynn or Pat, our favorite babysitters, my mother let me sit in the bathroom and watch while she applied her makeup and shimmied into a girdle. I admired her skill in painting her lips red without going outside the lines. To me, she looked like a movie star.

I experimented with her lipstick, blotting my lips on a tissue just like she did to remove the excess, pretending I was glamorous. I got close to the mirror and kissed my image, saying dahling, dahling (my mother never said this). I powdered my nose and dabbed a drop of Chanel parfum on my wrist as she did, so I could be just like her. 

When I was about 12 years old people started telling me I looked like my mother. That filled me with happiness. If I bore a physical resemblance to my mother, I figured everything would turn out alright.

My mother taught me there is sweet a satisfaction in finishing the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle and making a perfect pie crust, both of which she can do marvelously.

My mother taught me about traditions, why making the same Thanksgiving dinner year after year is OK. Why piano lessons are good for you even though you hate them. Why nice girls don’t swear or call boys. Why a dose of laughter, along with a vitamin and green vegetables, must be part of your daily diet.

My mother, the best mother in the world, taught me how to be a mother myself.

mom, grandmother, daugher, grandson

My mother, grandmother, me and my first child, 2-week old Evan.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom, with all my love.

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How to Arrange Flowers in a Square Vase

May 1, 2015 2:16 pm ,

I love having fresh flowers in the house, and on holidays and special occasions I always use them as a centerpiece on my dining room table.

I was chatting with my friend Elise about flower arrangements, and she told me she had seen something very pretty in a square vase. It sounded intriguing. I thought it would be fun to try it for Mother’s Day.

Elise offered to come over to my house and we figured it out together. It really was not difficult at all and took very little time. Thank you, Elise!

Just about any flowers will work.

Besides the flowers, there are just three items you will need. They can be found in a store like Michael’s or A.C. Moore. Your local florist may carry them, too.

a square vase, any size (we used a 5 x 5″)
oasis, which is green foamy stuff that comes in a brick
flora ribbon, which is coated and therefore waterproof (we used 4″)

1. Cut the block of oasis with a sharp knife to fit inside your vase. You can bevel the four sides but that’s not necessary.

How to Arrange Flowers in a Square Vase

2. Submerge the oasis until it is completely drenched and then set it in the vase.

How to Arrange Flowers in a Square Vase

3. Cut a piece of the flora ribbon to stretch around the perimeter of the oasis. Wrap it around and slide the seam into a corner so it’s not visible. The ribbon will be inside the vase. Now you won’t see the oasis through the glass.

4. Cut fresh flowers to whatever height you desire and stick into the oasis. We wanted our arrangement to be low. Fill in with greens, ferns or berries to enhance the look.

How to Arrange Flowers in a Square Vase

And there it is! We used hydrangeas, tulips, greens and baby’s breath and made them on the low side so that everyone can see each other across the table, but you can make them taller if you like. The flowers and greens can easily be pressed into the oasis and they stay nice and fresh for several days. It is perfect for Mother’s Day or any other occasion.

And speaking of Mother’s Day, I have an awesome set of Hallmark Mother’s Day cards to give away in time for the big day next Sunday. Leave a comment below and you may win these cards that you can send to the special women in your life.

How to Arrange Flowers in a Square VaseAnd to all the moms out there, especially my own, Happy Mother’s Day!

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Mother’s Day is Every Day

May 7, 2014 9:10 am ,

This is a Midlife Boulevard bloghop. Take a look at the posts shared by other midlife women at the end of this post.

This Mother’s Day, May 11, is the same day as my oldest child’s 35th birthday.

Wait. What? How can he be 35 years old? Aren’t I about that age?

Thirty-five years ago, my son arrived five weeks early, slightly jaundiced but a healthy size, suffering no worse for the wear other than, due to this sudden appearance, his mother’s lack of preparation. She never had made it to even one Lamaze class or a parenting lesson. Never learned how to do a cleansing breath. Missed out on Diapering 101. She (I) was clueless.

The first night home, the crying was incessant.

From both of us.

The early days of motherhood were fraught with both delight in my newborn and intense insecurity. Was I doing the right thing by jiggling my baby until my arms hurt because he wanted to be held? Or was I stifling his independence? Was I providing a sense of security, or damaging him for life?

Yes, these are the worries that crossed my sleep-deprived mind.

But I was lucky. I had the best role model in the world: my mother. She never told me what to do, but supported me and let me know I was doing a good job.

Six years later Evan’s sister arrived, and three years after that, another baby girl.

Mother's Day is Every Day

By then I realized that motherhood is something you must learn on the job. No amount of preparation can teach you how to comfort a colicky baby or disguise vegetables in applesauce.

Three kids and 35 years later, the memorable moments are countless. First days of school with new lunchboxes. Tryouts for basketball and tennis and soccer. Holidays and summer camp and weekends at the shore. Middle school drama and college applications. Friends and enemies and frenemies. Sweet moments, sad moments, times of tears and distress, of laughter and hugs to make it all better.

Mother's Day is Every Day

I remember …

The way we used to get down on the floor to build Legos with Evan and he would suddenly get up and say, holding up his index finger, “I’ll be wight back!”

Emily’s insistence on calling Roy Rogers (destination for her favorite chicken nuggets) Walter Rogers.

Laurie’s refusal to smile. “Smile, Laurie,” we would beseech as we pointed the camera. She just opened her mouth wide like she was saying ahhhh.

Mother's Day is Every Day

When your children are little it seems like time is going ever so slowly. Now, with the benefit of time and experience, I wish I could relive those days with the wisdom I acquired later in life, with a little less anxiety.

Mother's Day is Every Day

I wish I had known as a young mother that, in spite of my concerns and undoubtedly my mistakes, everything would turn out alright.

Mother's Day is Every Day

It’s been better than alright. It’s spectacular.

 

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My Mother’s Greatest Gift: a Daughter’s Love Story

May 5, 2013 9:28 pm ,

Capturing lightening bugs and dropping them in a glass jar with holes slit in the lid. Running full force into flapping bed sheets drying on our clothesline that smelled like sunshine. Licking bits of cookie dough from my sticky fingers. Bike rides and lots of books and flashlight tag with the neighborhood kids and sleepovers and Saturday matinees and piano lessons and summer camp and July 4th fireworks …

These are the things of which happy childhoods are made.

My mother’s greatest gift was being a mother who knew that.

curly hair, little girl, swing

She and my father gave my brother and me a childhood filled with the important things in life: love, acceptance, passion, and humor.

She also knew when discipline was necessary and stuck to her guns despite my wailing protestations, something I found out years later was one of the hardest jobs of motherhood.

family photo

Cute I may have been, but I could be a handful, and I knew my mother looked forward to Saturday nights when she and my dad went out to dinner with their friends and got away from us kids for a few hours.

While my dad left to pick up either Sharon or Kay Lynn or Pat, our favorite babysitters, my mother let me sit in the bathroom and watch while she applied her makeup and shimmied into a girdle. I admired her skill in painting her lips red without going outside the lines.

Once they had left, I experimented with her lipstick, blotting my lips on a tissue just like she did to remove the excess. I kneeled on the sink to get close to the mirror and kissed my image, saying dahling, dahling (my mother never said this). I powdered my nose and dabbed a drop of Chanel parfum on my wrist as she did, so I could be just like her. 

When I was about 12 years old people started telling me I looked like my mother. That filled me with happiness.

I was an awkward pre-teen with oily skin and clothes that never fit right, but if I bore a physical resemblance to my mother, I figured there was a glimmer of hope.

My mother taught me there is sweet a satisfaction in finishing the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle and making a perfect pie crust, both of which she can do marvelously.

My mother taught me about traditions, why making the same Thanksgiving dinner year after year is OK. Why piano lessons are good for you even though you hate them. Why a dose of laughter, along with a vitamin and green vegetables, must be part of your daily diet.

If I am like my mother, I am the person I always wanted to be.

The greatest gift from my mother, the best mother in the world, was how to be a mother myself.

mom, grandmother, daugher, grandson

My mother, grandmother, me and my first child, 2-week old Evan.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom, with all my love.

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