Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day 2011 was a success.  It was my lowest-key Mother's Day yet, and because I kept my expectations in check, it was a good day.  No, my not-a-morning-person husband did not get up and make me breakfast in bed.  But, yes, my not-a-morning-person son slept until 8:45, so I called it a victory.  See, it's all about changing your standards. 

I did get to go on the most gorgeous solo bike ride in the late morning.  Spring came to Chicago during the four days we were in Pennsylvania, and now there are flowers!  And leaves!  And warmth!  Well, sometimes warmth! 

After the ride I totally glammed myself up for our official Mother's Day photo:

Now, sometimes when you look at people's blog posts, rife with pictures and colorful anecdotes, you might think, Wow, their lives are so much better than mine.  But that is because these people aren't telling you the whole story.  So, in the interests of full disclosure, I will say that it was like pulling teeth to get Nathan to cooperate for this photo.  First he changed from his normal clothes into a pair of shorts pajamas, which he then topped with some full-length footed pajamas with reindeer on them.  Yeah.  And then he put the khakis on, but the shirt he was wearing was a size 2T t-shirt featuring the mascot of my high school, which he outgrew 2 years ago and therefore was a bit of a bare midriff.  (Oh, and his bedroom looks like a war zone after he threw all those clothes on the floor.)  We got him to put on this shirt for the photo.  Here's a shot of me buttoning the shirt:

And then we just had the darndest time getting him to sit still and pose for the picture.  Many of the pictures we took feature shenanigans like this one:

I like to think he is saying, "I love you this much!"

During the same period of time we were out taking these photos, we also had an outdoor lunch (prepared by me).  Bill didn't like the peanut butter sandwich I made because I used creamy peanut butter, Nathan pretty much ate nothing, and both of them kept jumping out of their seats to swat at wasps with newspaper.  It was very relaxing.  

After lunch the boys went out to buy me flowers.  I always say the true Mother's Day gift is the time I get while they are both gone at the store.  Anyway that was the time I was supposed to be spending having a serious think about my future, but instead I watched part of last night's SNL featuring Tina Fey, and then I fell asleep.

And then I blew all my careful efforts at Weight Watchering by eating a random Pop-Tart I found sitting on the arm of the couch.  Uh-huh.  And then I just ate two more Pop-Tarts after that.  

So, no, I did not get breakfast in bed on a silver tray, and I did not get treated like a queen while being pampered with spa treatments.  I got some beautiful pink roses and a card where Nathan wrote "MOM" on the envelope himself.  And a little framed picture of himself that he made at his high school program, where he dictated to a high schooler, "I love my mommy because she buys me toys."  So, yay.  He is selfish and materialistic, and I am a spoiling pushover mother.  Or something where I read into things a little less.  

But it was a good day.  A beautiful, quiet day.  Aside from the sleeping in and the refusal to eat the peanut butter I picked, Bill was appropriately respectful of Mother's Day traditions and mostly took over Nathan's care and a few household chores.  So he's an okay guy, I guess.

Happy Mother's Day!