Am I The Only One Who Thinks Mother's Day Is A Lot Of Work?

By Susan Krivelow, GALTime.com Staff

Mother's Day is a lot of work! Am I the only mom out there who thinks this? Don't get me wrong, I love how my kids feel on Mother's Day. But for me it's always been hours of stress and a bit of chaos. Why? When my 4 daughters were young, they decided they wanted to take me out to brunch to celebrate. Unfortunately, their father waited until the last minute to make reservations and every place was booked within a 100 mile radius! There were some tears and quite a bit of disappointment, so (silly me) I volunteered to make brunch. I thought, this will be simple, my husband will whip up some omelettes, I'll buy some bagels and a container of fresh fruit. Not exactly what the girls had in mind. They opened a cookbook and oohed and aahed over a fancy egg dish and a French toast casserole that had to be made a day in advance. They wanted a special punch and homemade coffee cake. I admit, I got caught up in the excitement and thought we'll make it together. Cooking is not my favorite pastime, but family cooking would be fun. Everyone will pitch in and it will be a good family memory. We even started inviting friends to join our celebration. It was delicious and heart-warming.

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But a few years into the tradition, life got in the way of the family cooking part. The girls had homework, gymnastics practice, dance lessons, a softball game on the Saturday before the big event. My husband would chauffeur them around and I would shop for the ingredients. On Sunday, they had religious school from 9 to noon. My Mother's Day slowly turned into a solo working day. And that's what it will be again this May 9th.

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I will start cooking at 7 in the morning...a little bit resentful. Isn't this supposed to be my day of rest? After 4 hours chopping, beating, soaking and mixing, I will take my flour-covered body up to the shower and try to relax before company arrives at Noon. I will muster a small smile by the time we all sit down to eat. Then the laughter will begin and I'll quickly forget the craziness of my morning. By the time plates are cleared, I'm will be a happy mom, a really happy mom. Lots of good food (or so I've been told!), lots of good conversation and lots of love.

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The fact that I make my own Mother's Day brunch has become quite the joke. Seeing how much my family appreciates everything is the best gift. It doesn't hurt that they handle ALL of the clean-up and wait on me the rest of the day.

By the way, the joke is also on my husband, who for years now has planned his own Father's Day barbecue, done the shopping and the grilling. Clean up is still up to the kids!

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