Mother's Day 2012

If I'm terribly honest, today was a pretty disappointing day. It would have been disappointing if it had been a 'normal' Sunday, but being Mother's Day made it even worse. Spenser had made a pretty good effort. I couldn't be upset with him. He got a gift, some cards, and got up early to make breakfast and lunch. The kids sadly didn't behave so well. They didn't want to help dad out. I explained that it was Mother's Day and not Husband's Day, but that didn't seem to help. They didn't want to listen and they certainly didn't want to be kind to one another.

Sunday is Zach's least favorite day of the week. He is happy once he's home from church, but there is not part of going that he likes. He doesn't like having to get dressed and he doesn't like going to Primary. I am trying to understand that it's hard for him because his teacher misses a lot and he is the only boy in the class, but I'm not sure what to do. When he asked in his prayer last night that the church would burn down after I prompted him to help us at church the next day, I knew that we would be in for it today. To make matters worse he also didn't want to eat and his mood is strongly influenced by the amount of sugar in his system. It was a fight, but we made it there. We were late, but we were there.

Spense made a breakfast with an English flair.

Spenser had prepared some chicken salad and we ate out on the lawn since the weather was nice. I had asked him to make things simple since I didn't want to do dishes or have him stuck in the kitchen cooking while I wrestled with the kids.

After lunch we headed out to the park for a walk. As expected the suggestion was met with resistance, but we went anyway. I was so relieved when Zach finally cried himself to sleep. It had been a bad day for him. Thomas teased Olivia mercilessly for the rest of the evening, which resulted in the usual tears. He was finally sent of to bed with a, "Well thanks for ruining Mother's Day" from Spense.

With the kids finally in bed I washed the last dishes while Spense fed Sam. I thought about the day and how it hadn't gone exactly as I might have wanted it too. I thought about how the kids had behaved and what I could do to make things better. It wasn't a day of hugs and kisses and telling me what a good job I'm doing as a mom, but it was a day for me to commit to do better as a mother. There are times when I am too short . There are times when I am too harsh. There are times when I am too concerned with getting on with the routine. I want to do better and I hope that I  can.