Today my husband made me breakfast. Not in bed, mind you, but breakfast just the same, thoughtfully planned out and prepared just for me. He wanted to serve it to me in bed but I ruined the surprise by popping out of the bedroom just before it was ready to be eaten. Our morning was filled with the usual happenings of daily life – we ate, we watched a little TV, we stopped the kids from fighting one, two, heck, countless times, and we enjoyed the hours until he left for work.
For my gift, I was expecting something handmade. My kids know how mommy treasures the gifts from their heart. But for my gift this year, my son and daughter went to Build a Bear Workshop and made their mommy (that would be me) a one-of-a-kind wolf. Yes, that’s right. This Mother’s Day I received a furry gray wolf, clad in basketball gear and cleats. All I could do when I opened the package was laugh. I knew my husband had taken the kids to Build a Bear Workshop because five-year-olds are not the best at keeping secrets and all week long my son kept telling me that he was going to Build a Bear Workshop but that no way was he going to tell me why – nope, not a chance, his lips were SEALED. So when we went out the other day to the shopping center and my husband took the kids off to get “Mommy’s surprise,” I carefully tiptoed to the window of the store. I peeked in just in time to see my son pumping foam into the stuffed animal. I couldn’t see what the animal was at the time because other people were blocking it, but I watched his little face as he pumped away. Then I watched as he and his two-year-old sister grabbed the mass of fur and hugged it tightly, together. Then I walked away. I didn’t want to see what the gift was; I just wanted to see their faces as they helped bring to “life” something that was important to them.
Today when I received my beautiful wolf, I thought of my own mother. I thought of all the times I had wrapped my own toys and given them to her as gifts. I thought of the hugs I’d received, the joy on her face; I thought of the love. I wonder what her first Mother’s Day was like? I was born in March and have a twin sister. My mother had just turned 20 when we were born and having twins was a surprise for her. I wonder what she did that first year for Mother’s Day. I wonder if she received breakfast in bed. I wonder if she remembers the day at all or if it’s a memory blocked out by time and sheer exhaustion! Babies grow so quickly. I watch my own children every day and wonder how they could have laid in my arms such a short time ago, and now be running around and growing more independent by the second.
Happy Mother’s Day, to my mom, to your mom, to every mom out there who is with her baby or child today. And to the mothers who are not. And to all of the mothers out there who have gotten wolves or delightful homemade gifts from their children and who have smiled and said it was just what they wanted – Happy Mother’s Day to you too. I hope your memories remain etched in your souls as mine will.