Mother's Day is approaching and I know this because yesterday an ad just told me that Mom would just love the $5 American flag and large-mouthed bass tee-shirt boldly emblazoned with the slogan "Bass Pro Shops -- an American Tradition."  “Shows her pride in America and her loyalty to Bass Pro Shops!” Available in white and navy. (This is what my boys are threatening, Charlie howling with laughter when Husband casually asks "Does it come in Realtree Camo?")  Looking through the ads, I also learn that moms love $48.97 diamond heart pendants.

My personal feelings about Mother's Day are a little mixed, not surprising, being my mother's daughter.  My mom feels the day is a forced "Hallmark Holiday," compelling those slacker kids out there to give their mom a perfunctory call and card one day a year.  To me, even though the sentiment may seem a bit forced, who can resist the handmade gifts from our children, the macaroni picture frames covered in glitter?

What do I want to do on Mother's Day?  I gave it some thought, and what I'd like is to spend the morning reading the Sunday Times at a leisurely place, skipping church if I feel like it and not feeling guilty about it. (Especially after reading the lecture/screed in our latest church newsletter given by our Junior Warden in which she tells the entire congregation that we're all a bunch of losers because no one showed up for the Easter Vigil, but instead attended Easter morning just for the egg hunt and cake).

I'll drink my pitiful half cup of coffee, hang with Charlie, and watch the birds hop around on the back patio.  Our squirrel will make an appearance (and a general mess of things, leaving sunflower seed shells everywhere he possibly can).  Later in the day we'll go see my mother-in-law, whose feelings about the holiday are the opposite of my mom's and who would be ticked if we forgot this holiday.

My mom, a mother now for the majority of her life, has found that being a mother never stops.  These days as she helps my brother with his health challenges, she is a living example of the mother's self-sacrifice.  But she never complains.  My mom is strong and her strength is one of the most important traits she's passed on to us kids, as well as an appreciation for nature and critters.  In our house, we relocate errant spiders, silverfish and the like to the outdoors and do the same for the rats we occasionally trap in the attic (in my camo $5 American flag and large-mouthed bass tee-shirt boldly emblazoned with the slogan "Bass Pro Shops -- an American Tradition," of course).  I love and appreciate my mom, and to her I wish a very happy un-Mother's Day.

To all the other moms out there -- enjoy your day, whatever that means to you.

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