Hallmark Moments . . .

When I was twelve years old, I spent a good deal of time creating lucrative businesses with my sister Audra and my cousin Catherine.  Our aim was to sell as much homemade junk as possible for a hefty profit - our market extended as far as our family members, poor saps!  We sold our own chocolate nibblets, secret recipe herbal body wash, and the odd woven pot holder or clay bowl.  My favorite business, however, was our homemade greeting cards!  Well, it has since become my favorite because Catherine, the elegant weaver of words, came up with a doosie!  On the front of the printer-paper card was a cut out flower from an old and very ugly wallpaper sample, but on the inside, sheer poetry.  It read, "April showers bring May flowers, like mothers bring you closer to God."  Not bad from the mind of a twelve year old, ey?  We didn't really understand why our moms laughed instead of tearing up when they read these tender words that sprang from the depths of our souls!  

Needless to say, I entered the world of motherhood with my heart warmed by Catherine's sugar-coated, simplistic and somewhat delusional hallmark one-liner!  And it's a good thing, too!  If anyone could have summed up real motherhood in a greeting card and I read it before the point of no return, I may not have jumped in so eagerly!  But here I am, a relatively new mother to two girls, and although I still think Catherine's message to mothers is a lofty goal, my own personal greeting cards would read very differently:  "Mom, thanks for always being there for me - especially when I thought it was a good idea to take off my diaper and use my own feces as a facial!" Or, "Mom, I have learned so much from you - like how to use the word sh$% as a noun, verb and adjective in a sentence!" Or even, "Mom, you know me so well - just by looking into my glossy eyes, you can tell that I am in the process of soiling my undies before I even feel it!"  Even the heart-warming messages would be a bit more real, like, "Mom I really love you, now can I have a treat?" or, "Mom, happy mother's day, you're my favorite and my best because you get games down out of the closet for me!"

I don't really know where I'm going with this mother's day post, other than to say that I have realized that real motherhood can't be captured in a card.  Card's can't put into words every triumph you achieve, every failure you endure,  every second you worry, every laugh you enjoy, and every tear you shed.  And moms don't really need cards with sappy messages to know that they have the best job in the world.  Our own genuine hallmark moments are simply written on our hearts!  Happy belated mothers day to all the mothers and future mothers I know and love!