A Belated 'Happy Mother's Day'

Last weekend was Mother’s Day. It was Amy’s first Mother’s Day. At our house, we kind of decided to turn it into Mother’s Day Weekend. Why shouldn't Mother’s Day get an extension? After all, how great and important are mothers? They carry our children for three-quarters of a year as the child develops inside of her. They then go through, what I have heard, is one of the most painful processes that a human being can go through to allow our children to enter the world. I must admit that I am a little envious of the natural bond that this creates between a mother and her child that a father does not have; however, I am also very thankful for the sacrifices that mothers make during this process.

Think about all of the other sacrifices mothers make. I know that my Mom cooked at least one meal a day, and usually prepared two more for me. My Mom made sure that I had stylish enough clothes that allowed me to fit-in, and then she made sure that they were always clean. My Mom put up with me through my teenage years when I exhibited jerk like symptoms that most people would never forgive (this is probably the number one thing that I hope Ryne does not inherit from his Dad). My Mom would (and will) always listen to me when I need to vent. My Mom sacrificed her evening and weekend time to attend all of my basketball and football games (minus my first game during my freshman year of college, but that was in Wisconsin…); I never made a big deal of that while it was happening, but now that I am older and I’ve coached children whose parents never come to their games – that sacrifice is/was a really big deal – thank you! I could go on and on listing all of the great things that my Mom has ever (original wording here was a typo; it is now fixed) done for me, but I want this blog to be focused around Ryne’s Mom.

I knew that before Ryne ever joined the two of us that Amy would someday make a great mom. Nothing since Ryne’s arrival has happened to make me change my mind of that thought; in fact, my prediction of Amy being a great Mom has been confirmed each and every day of Ryne’s life. He is a very lucky boy. So, we (Ryne and I) wanted to make this a very special first Mother’s Day weekend.

For Mother’s Day weekend, it was my goal to do all things that Amy would enjoy/like. Our weekend started Friday after-work with Ryne, Amy, and I going to watch game three of the Bulls/Hawks series at one of Amy’s co-worker’s house (they have children that go to the same daycare as Ryne). On Saturday, Ryne, Amy, and I went to the “Opening Day” of the Davenport farmer’s market, I watched Ryne and baby-proofed our house while Amy went dress shopping, we had an outside picnic for lunch, Amy was able to take a nice long nap with her son, and then Amy and I went out for dinner, the two of us.

The next day, Mother’s Day, I woke up with Ryne at 5:30 and let Amy sleep. When Ryne became tired as he normally does around 7, I took him in to bed with Mom and the two of them received additional rest. While they slept, I prepared for Amy a Mother’s Day breakfast of bacon, eggs, and mimosas. When the two of them awoke, breakfast was served in bed with the Sunday ads.

After breakfast was finished, Ryne and I gave Mom her present. When I was told that Mom wanted, not a store bought gift, but a homemade craft for Mother’s Day I was less than thrilled. I don’t like crafts, and I don’t think that I’m good at crafts. But I take pride in my gift giving so if a craft is what was wanted, a craft is what was given. Ryne and I made picture frames with his hand print on the frame. Getting the hand print on the frame was an adventure. I got some red paint on a paper plate, and then I got Ryne undressed to minimize whatever mess was about to be made. I tried to dip the palm of his hand in the paint, but he wanted to make a fist. This was a two-handed job. It ended up turning out pretty good, I think, but he did, towards the end, grab the paint filled plate with his free hand (again, remember, I was using both of my hands to control his paint covered hand) and toss it onto the floor. The plate landed face up, but there was red paint in the carpet; fortunately, it cleaned-up with a little bit of scrubbing and cleaner product…I hope/I think that Mom liked the craft.

Next came time for a nice long morning nap, Ryne and his Mom together. Once rested, they went out for a Mother’s Day lunch with Amy’s Mom. The rest of the afternoon was spent resting and, per Amy’s request, a quick trip to the mall. When we returned home, I grilled Amy a nice steak and cooked her some baked beans and a baked potato to go with some red wine for our dinner. The weekend finished just like it began with our family watching the Bulls/Hawks (game four); unfortunately they didn’t win the game Sunday night…

Hopefully this was the best Mother’s Day that Amy has ever had!

I am finishing this entry with a YouTube link to a commercial that really has nothing to do with Mother’s Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAJjauEtDXE

However, this commercial did air on TNT while Amy and I were watching the Bulls/Hawks game for our Mother’s Day finale. I just like the commercial, and the guys in the commercial kind of remind me of Ryne with his head that is in the 99th percentile for six month olds (although I think that the rest of his body is starting to catch-up with his head; regardless, he is adorable).