Acknowledging the Wide Continuum of Mothering

If you see something in church that makes you think of something you read or saw … don't share it. This is an indirect lesson my wife is trying to teach me for she doesn't want me when I go up to read our Scripture lessons “embarrassing” her. And for Mother's Day, it was the least I could have done. So I won't tell you the Star Trek life form that title in our church bulletin made me think of ...

But the quilts on all the pews and all the school kits packed got my mind running to that line from How The Grinch Stole Christmas! “It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without bundles, boxes, or bags!” and I said so from the lectern. I meant it to end as a joke, but either they're still waking up at eight am or it fell flat. That happens sometimes.

And Sunday morning was also the last day of Sunday school class until this fall, for me it was one last class with Krista at my teaching assistant (who's graduating high school by the end of this month and will be at college in Minnesota this fall) and us having five sugar-high first graders, to hear the Bible story of Jesus healing the ten lepers and perform the play. That I forgot the script for. At home.

So we improvised, and did quite a good job of it! Then for Mother's Day – which I hoped after taking Martha out to lunch would seriously be us going home and taking a long nap, everybody! – we were over at my in-laws' house for a while helping them with a new cabinet and then took in some ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery (I heartily recommend their Cheesecake Fantasy), and went home.

Martha and I are willing (and more often than not, ready) to crash when we get home and have eaten dinner – but we couldn't bring ourselves to FIX dinner Sunday night, the twelve-ounce center cut gorgonzola steak I had and Martha's chicken alfredo and Sarah's “sketti” (sound it out, that's how it's spelled on the kids' menu and Jeffrey's grilled cheese and grapes on the side. Hey, we thought between those and the ice cream they'd be stuffed, but about twenty minutes before bedtime came the cry …

And for a while yesterday even after I got to work I felt like what I'd eaten Sunday stayed with me, hence the reason I did not post yesterday, for part of the day I did not want to stand up! But today I'm here, and today I'm at least partially sane. Got really windy and slightly rainy last night, so much so that Sarah came down about three this morning and cried out she was scared. A few hours later I woke up and found our daughter sacked out on the couch.

Only seven more days I have to wake them for school, David