We have a few simple traditions for Mother's day in our family. 1) I get to cook whatever I want and no one is allowed to utter one whimper of complaint, 2) Chris always takes the kids out to pick me a bouquet of wild flowers (my favorite kind) , 3) whatever else I want to do that day, I get to, within reason.
On our way home from the zoo on Thursday, we stopped at a small store in a nearby town to grab some bread and apples for dinner. At the little cheese counter in the back, I spied something orange. I looked closer, and saw that it was real, from America, cheddar cheese. The cost was astronomical, but I justified by deciding on the spot that I would use it to make something for Mother's Day. I carefully put it away in the back of the fridge after slicing off just one thin slice to taste 🙂 and started running through all my favorite recipes that really do taste better with cheddar cheese. I ended up making my mom's chicken and broccoli casserole, a childhood favorite. Fitting, wouldn't you say?
At church, the Primary kids sang for mother's day, but it was not one of the traditional Mother's Day songs out of the Primary songbook. Nor was it just the Primary kids. The ward choir joined them, along with a mini-orchestra. Seriously, there were three huge xylophones, a cello, two violins, three flutes, and the piano accompanying them. They sang a rather pretty version of "Give said the little stream", and although I thought it an odd choice for Mother's day, it was well done. The only problem was that given the amount of instruments, combined with the natural limited space in our chapel, several of us mothers had to make the difficult decision to listen to our kids in person, thereby requiring us to stand out in the hall, all bunched together peeking in through the door, or stay in the primary room where the closed circuit tv is set up to house all the people who don't fit in the chapel on any given Sunday. You could then see your children, on tv even!, but the sound quality isn't that great, so you would have missed all the finer nuances of the song. I chose to stand in the hall and peek in the door. Sarah was smiling and waving to the camera in the chapel, thinking I was watching in the overflow room. It was kind of cute, actually.
During Primary, the leaders helped all the children make a gift for their mothers. It was really sweet, and I could tell they put a lot of work into it. It was just a bit embarrasing, since they let each child make their own, rather than having all the children from one family make a combined gift. The upshot was that by the time each child had brought me their roll of paper towels decorated to look like a cleaning lady, with sponge and dishtowel arms and rubber glove hair, my arms were full to bursting. I looked quite the sight trying to hold on to them all as I made my way out of the crowded foyer. I made sure Chris got pictures of them all before I dismantled them into useable parts. It was a really cute idea, especially since they all came with a coupon to help me use the cleaning supplies.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for the second time. Yes, I am gearing up for the movie release, just in time for my birthday! So thoughtful of them, isn't it? It was a wonderful day, and I am so blessed to have such a sweet family to be the mother for. (Oh, and yes I called my own mother and wished her a Happy Mother's Day as well. Her example is always in the back of mind whenever I think I can't go on. Thanks, Mom!)