Our First Mother’s Day Together

I remember very clearly Mother’s Day of last year.  I was about six (was it six? I can’t count good) months along in my pregnancy, and my husband bought me a bottle of Marc Jacobs Daisy perfume to celebrate my first mother’s day. While the gift was appreciated, as any gift at any time is, I wasn’t even close to feeling like a mom yet.

So, today was my first official mother’s day. I didn’t put too much thought into it, besides telling my husband that I would love to do something different with him and Baby. He made me a funny card, and bought my favourite chocolates, which was super sweet but wasn’t even close to the best part of the day.

Maybe it was how I kept reminding myself all day long how lucky I was. How all of the difficulties I faced in previous years were worth it in order to be here in this moment today. It chokes me up to think about it. The day was just so perfect. Every moment. Even the fact that Baby didn’t say “mama” once, instead saying “dadadadadada” all day long.

We took Baby swimming for the first time. Of course we were the bumbling new parents in the Family Change Room (which is a strange experience btw) getting Baby ready while trying to get ready ourselves. We weren’t sure whether it was going to be a massive disaster or a super good time. Baby blew our expectations out of the water (pun!). The look on his face was priceless. He laughed the entire time, everything was so brand new for him. I realized as I looked at him in his swim trunks and shirt, that we get to introduce him to all of these firsts. Simple, but sort of extraordinary. It’s an amazing gift.

As we drove home, Baby babbled on and on, squealing with excitement over what he had just experienced. He was still full of energy when we got home, fed him his dinner and gave him his bath. The events of the day finally caught up to him and he fell asleep in my arms before getting into his crib. I decided to give The Book (which says very clearly to put the baby to bed drowsy, but NOT ASLEEP!!) the middle finger and sat down to rock with my sleeping baby nuzzled close to me. We rocked for a good while tonight while I wordlessly thanked God, my parents, my husband, the guy at the corner store, Britney Spears, the dandelions on my lawn…everyone and everything for bringing him into my life.

I hope I always remember to be this grateful, to remember how lucky I am each day. Even when things seem rotten. I know it is a privilege to be on this ride with my boy, and I never for a moment want to take it for granted.

To all the moms out there, I hope you had a fantastic day. Especially my mom, who this year especially gave me unwaivering love and support when I needed to find my own way as a mother.

I’m going to go listen to some sappy music now and have a good happy cry. Then I am going to eat the dinner my husband is happily preparing downstairs. Life is good tonight, my friends.

xoxo

P.S. This is good sappy music, FYI.

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