I had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating being a mom that started on Friday afternoon and continued well into Monday! So really I would rather refer to it this year as Mother’s weekend!
Friday afternoon I was invited by Jake’s teacher to a Mother’s day tea. She asked if I would be willing to help her out a little before the rest of the moms arrived and I was more than glad to accomodate her request. I got out my fine china with the full intention of spoiling the moms of Jake’s friends. We had a great time drinking tea and eating strawberry shortcake and watching our enthusiastic five and six year olds singing the “Cricket Can-can” and a few other well rehearsed songs. Every child was so happy to show their mom (or Grandma) just how special they were. Jake gave me a little card with a tea bag inside and a great painting he’d done. It was a very special time for me to share with just him.
Saturday continued with an evening out with a few of my other mommy friends. It was such a joy to have us all together again for a time of fun and laughter. It was hard to believe that we hadn’t done a girls night out since September as we picked up as if we’d never left off. Basking in the sun at Stanley park, checking out funny cards at Chapters and partaking of a fun feast of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate (oh, and a little bit of wine).
Our plans for Sunday had originally involved church, home for lunch and naps and then another family trip to Stanley park with James’ family but plans changed a little…I headed to church early to take care of a few details I’d missed during the week and when church was over was told to get changed and hope in the van because we were ready to go. James had packed a picnic lunch, a change of clothes for all the girls and was ready to head straight in. We ended up finding a wonderful place to picnic just the six of us and then met up with James’ family at Second beach to let the kids play. We finished by walking back to Drew’s place (James’ brother) and then heading home in time to listen to the Canucks win the game on the radio (not really a big deal for me but the men in my life appreciated it)!
Today I figured we’d had such a good weekend and I really didn’t want it to end so I gave the kids a “mental health day”. My mom did this for me when I was little and I believe it made all the difference for me in my schooling years as I really never had the desire to skip school because I knew if I really needed a break all I had to do was ask and it would be figured out. So as a treat I declared it play-day for me and the kids and I abandoned all my regular monday chores for a day of fun. No laundry, house-cleaning, etc. The kids still had a few chores they had to take care of before heading out but nothing major. We headed to Mill Lake park for 2 1/2 hours in the morning to discover bull frogs, tree climbing, ducklings, goslings, a new playground and a lot of beautiful sunshine. Then we went to the library for some new reading material, then to the grocery store for a few necessities and a cookie from the bakery, then home to have lunch, play games and quiet time. We finished off our day with dinner and cheering Sam on at baseball.
I really couldn’t have been blessed with a more enjoyable, relaxing, encouraging weekend than what I experienced. In the moments when I questions my sanity and really debate with myself why I wanted this life of chaos I can look back at the last four days and recognize that the treasures I have in this life are unbelievably abundant and God has richly blessed me in every area of my life!