Mother's Month

May 15, 2006

The first day of this month, upon finding out that it was May 1st Celine promptly ran upstairs to her wall calendar to see what exciting dates this month had in store. She came running downstairs and announced excitedly that Mother's Day was in May. Well that announcement sent all the children into a flurry of activity as they immediately starting making "surprise" Mother's Day cards for me. A certain element of surprise is lost when you get questions like "what is your favorite color" followed by "how do you spell Happy Mother's Day made from Laurent". It was quite blissful for a few moments as my children colored, cut & whispered preparing cards for me. Then there was a slight scuffle and attempt to repair with tape and subsequent tears. The magic of the moment was lost... only temporarily though. With some encouraging words Celine prepared a second card (Laurent accidently ripped her first in the aforementioned scuffle) and this one was promptly put in shoebox under her bed for safe keeping. Then Laurent presented me with his Mother's Day card. Which I of course read out loud, very proud of his achievements and creativity only to find out that I was supposed to simply view the card, not read it - this activity was to be reserved for the actual day. More tears and comforting. Today I fully enjoyed their heartfelt creations and both are proudly displayed. Brienne's, I'm sorry to say, was lost in the shuffle.

Since May 1st I've been the recipient of many Mother's Month gifts, mostly from my son. A handful of wilted dandelions and spent tulip petals from the garden that have gone into a "potpourri" bowl on the kitchen table. Three rather ordinary, extraordinary to Laurent, rocks stored in a treasure box on my bedside table and other little tokens of love. We'll see what the rest of the month holds. Regardless, I am a very blessed mother.