Mother's Week

I'm a big fan of stretching out holidays to make them last longer. BirthDAY? Nah, birthWEEK! Just December 25 for Christmas? No way, let's have several celebrations on different days with various people and thus extend the joy!

So let's do that with Mother's Day...I mean, Mother's Week. :)

In honor of that quickly-approaching holiday, here are some random mother-related items.

First, I had to take some pictures of these cheery pansies this evening, even though a light rain was falling. I thought the raindrops on the flowers made them look even better. When I see pansies, I think of my Grandma Winters who used to call them "monkey faces." And when I see these particular pansies which beautify my front flowerbed, I think of Jeff's mother who planted them last fall during her most recent visit with us; they wintered over and sprang back to life this spring, and I'm so glad and grateful for her gift to us.

Second, I had to post a video clip of the entertainment of the evening, found in our very own living room. After supper, Mother and the boys started playing a little "b-ball" as Josiah calls it: balloon ball. I was finishing my supper in the kitchen, but the hilarity drew me into the living room to see what exactly was going on. After I took this video, I decided to just sit down and enjoy the fun, too...the dishes could wait. So I did, and ended up laughing and laughing and laughing. All of us were in silly moods, I guess; but we laughed until we cried, and I delighted in the simple, pure, unquenchable laughter of my children. At the very end of this video, it actually looks like my mother got hit (which she did, but only by a balloon) and possibly injured...but trust me, she was fine. Her laughter burst forth, and all the rest of us joined in. :)

Third, I received an email a few days ago with this touching poem, excerpted from a new (to be released in July) book by Geri Laing and her daughter Elizabeth Laing Thompson. The book is called The Tender Years: Parenting Preschoolers and is available here. This is the poem...

I Like You Best

Elizabeth Laing Thompson

After dark, I like you best:

Day fades to gray,

Moonlit fingers paint stripes across your bed, your face.

I tiptoe in and rest a palm across your back

to feel you breathe--

up and down, the rise and fall;

I lean in close to breathe the sweet clean milk of you,

to feel the warmth of life

flowing in and out, in and out as you dream.

You sigh.

And I smile--serene, content--

This is my sunset.

When you're asleep, I like you best.

At day's first light, I like you best:

Dawn brings a gentle scratching,

the swish-swish of chubby elbows and knees and button nose

scrabbling against the sheets.

Then one little grunt, and soon another;

soft coos and squeals crescendo to a chorus

of joyful babbles to salute the day--

my alarm clock.

I shuffle in,

eyes bleary, all-over weary, heart warming--

and peek around the doorframe.

Two bright chipmunk eyes, two black buttons

peer up at me between the slats.

Eyes twinkle, cheeks crinkle, nose wrinkles;

rosebud lips send fireworks sparkling across the morning--

This is my sunrise.

When you're awake, I like you best.

From my good-morning sunrise to my lullaby sunset

and my every hour in between;

from your first cry to my last breath,

until the echo of us fades, our souls' footprints blow away--

That's when I like you best.