365 Excuses: May 2015

I'm not huge on these made up greeting card holidays especially these days as it feels like they have turned into over the top social media competitions. But I am all for excuses to eat, drink, and hang out with friends and family. And since Mother's Day is centered around me, I guess it is an OK fake holiday. A bit hypocritical, I know. Eh. It's a mom thing.

My mother's day started out similar to many other days: with a five year old slapping me in the face to wake me up then jumping on my back to tell me to stay in bed -- repeated every time I almost fell back asleep. Then this happened and you can't beat that:

So I spent my mother's day hanging with old friends, hanging with my mom, then hanging with new friends. Again, can't beat that.

As with all holidays, fake or otherwise, you tend to think back and remember those you've shared it with in the past. This year I thought of all the beautiful mom-friends I have had the pleasure of knowing over my 10 year stint at this stay at home mom gig -- they have really been the best co-workers a lady could ask for.

When I made the decision to stay home with our first baby, I really had no idea what it would entail. My visions of peaceful walks in the park and picnics by the pond weren’t exactly as I planned. But even though there was a lot more laundry than I expected and far less sleep than I anticipated, I really thought I had the whole stay-at-home-mom-with-a-colicky-baby thing covered. So when I first saw a flyer for a moms group at our local library, I didn't think it was anything I needed. Their byline, after all, was Moms Offering Moms Support – I didn't think I needed support but since it was cold outside and I realized that I was beginning to speak baby talk non-stop, I decided to check out a meeting anyway.

I walked into the library room that winter and there they were: Moms with babies who, like me, didn't looked showered and maybe even forgot to brush their teeth. And moms chasing toddlers. And moms chatting while their kindergartners did crafts. And, moms dressed in nice non-spit-up-stained clothing drinking coffee while their kids were at school. I had found more than a group of moms to offer me support; I found a community I didn't even know existed.

I am grateful that I found those moms who, it turned out, I did need for support on occasion and vice-versa. My daughter started kindergarten with kids she’d known her entire young life. And, I had a community of best friends I didn't even know I needed -- friends to lean on, friends to share in the small daily tasks, the milestones, and the big life events. We don't have to agree on every choice we make as moms, we know it's a mom thing, and support each other in our journey.

Cheers to all the beautiful moms I've known over the years! I hope you had a wonderful mother's day packed with bed jumping, kid wrangling, homemade gifts, overeating, mimosas, mud and more...