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Happy Almost Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day from Gina Conkle






How will you celebrate the day? I'm going to see Guardians of the Galaxy II with my youngest son and planting some flowers with both boys.

One of my favorite Mother's Day holidays came when my sons were ages 4 and 6. My husband asked my boys to make a Mom's Day card out of construction paper (read that as Brian forgot to buy a card). He got the crayons out and told the boys, "Draw pictures of mom's favorite things." Guess what was on the cover? A giant glass of red wine! Brian and I had a good laugh over that. As big as that glass was, I had to wonder how much they thought Mom loved red wine. I still have the card (it will eventually make it into a scrapbook).




As moms we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. When my first son was born, I kept a to-the-minute log of every diaper change and feeding and his sleep schedule. At his 6 week well visit, the pediatrician looked at my little spiral bound notebook and said, "I give you permission to not do that." I laughed. Maybe I was a little over the top? I dialed it down to keeping a mental list as he got older: "Did he at least get fruit and veggies today?" 

One of my loves was spending time reading to my boys. Their eyes riveted on the page. I tried to make funny character voices and keep it lively. I have fond memories of reading Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman with Chad. We took turns reading the pages. We still talk about that book (no wonder Neil Gaiman's a best selling author...it's a fantastic story...a perfect read for middle grade age kids).




Being a mom isn't about creating the picture-perfect birthday party. Nor do you have to do non-stop volunteering at their school (I practically moved in to my boys' elementary school).

Somewhere along the way, I figured out one of the best gifts I could give my boys was unconditional love. They don't remember when I made the nutritionally balanced dinner. Nor do they remember the mounds of laundry. I do know this...

They remember when I listened to heartaches. 
They love that I respected their need to make decisions for themselves as teens.
They appreciated that we honored their independence and let them learn lessons the hard way... and later said, "You were right."

Being Mom is not easy, but it's an adventure of heart, mind, body, and soul.

So maybe you deserve a day to do what you want...like curl up with a good book?










Happy Mother's Day from Gina Conkle and all the Sourcebooks Casablanca authors!

Viking, Georgian, and a little hot contemporary romance



Comments

  1. LOL! I love the second graphic. I remember the feeling, especially when I was a single mom. Are you bleeding? No? Then you're going to school!

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