The Perfect Day

Today is my 3rd Mother's Day, and by far the best one yet.  Not  because of any particular gift, although my husband and daughter did give me a gift of 2 hanging plants, and my daughter potted me a petunia  at Sunday School.   Mostly because our life, while absolutely, insanely busy most weeks, seems to have hit a groove on weekends.  We seem to have finally figured out how to balance work (around the house and sometimes for me extra hours on the weekend at my paying job), errands, fun and rest.


Not always, mind you, but we're definitely getting better at it.  Mostly.


Take this weekend.  We're just back from a 4-day trip to Disney(insanity with a toddler, as well as a rediculous indulgence, but fun), and of course, everyone was unpacked but me - for the record it is after 9 pm on Sunday and there is still stuff in my suitcase. But on Friday I went to the grocery store on the way home, so that was done.  And Saturday, in and around lunch with friends, we managed to get all the housework done (okay, all the housework that we planned to do, anyway. There's always more.)  Which meant today got to be for pleasure.  In and around church, a visit to my Moms, and planting lilacs and begonias in the yard, I took a nap.  A real nap, for almost 2 hours.  


In Mommyworld, naps are the holy grail.  I slept so long this afternoon I dreamed.  And that after I got to read for an hour, uninterrupted. For pleasure, not for research.  A novel, even.  If you don't know what a treat that is, you either don't have kids or never pick up a book.  


Alert the media.  


And I finally found the time to transplant my seedlings -some, anyway - and still make a stir fry for dinner.  After which Sander did the dishes.


It might not be a perfect day by most people's standards.  There were no expensive flower bouquets, nor was there any restaurant meals or spa visits.  We all got pretty dirty in the garden - the adorable one loves to dig in the dirt as much as her parents. Our breakfast was at our church, where a small group of people spent their hard-earned time and money to make brunch to celebrate mother's day.  The waffles won't win any awards, but the food was good, and the community better.  And so went the day - family, friends, flowers, and rest.


Happy Mother's Day.