Mother's Day

 At quarter to seven yesterday morning I was jolted awake by the sound of tornado sirens.

"Lewis! Get the boys!"

And he ran to get the boys from upstairs and I wrangled the dog and the baby.  We collected in the closet under the stairs (or ... the toy closet).

And thus we sat for oh, maybe ten minutes until we were sure the sirens were off.

That was the beginning of my Mother's Day.  We watched the local news for a few more minutes.  Lewis got me some coffee.  After a reasonable amount of time the boys started whining for food.  I made everyone breakfast.  And we huddled pretty much around the news and television for the morning as lightning and crazy winds rattled the windows.

We ventured out for lunch but it was still raining and lightning.

We came home from lunch and it still rained and thundered on.  We laid down for naps and it lulled ... but then we got another alert that a tornado was nearby.  Back to the television.

By about 5pm it was nice enough to go out a bit.  So - tired of being cooped up - we did.  We played with the balloons and the stomp rockets.  We tried to use the helicopter but someone is impatient and doesn't let it fully charge.  It's a short lived game.

It was a nice Mother's Day, as far as those things go.  It's nice to have the kids say nice things and at least attempt to get along because it's mom's special day.  It's a difficult day for so many that I know.  As a kid it was just about my mom.  But now, I think of all my friends that want to be parents but aren't.  The friends who have lost children.  The friends who have lost their mothers.

We have a blessed life.  I am grateful.  I am also exhausted, impatient, flustered, frazzled and overwhelmed.

But - aside from wishing to win the lottery to pay a live in maid and cook who has a cheery disposition and loves our family like you always see in those movies - I wouldn't change a thing.