Happy mother's day! Or if you happen to have a Y chromosome, I hope whatever present you picked up yesterday was worth it. Just kidding. I can joke about that because I, like many of my fellow brethren, are clueless when it comes to getting gifts. So yes, I suck at Mother's Day.
As a side note, Anna Jarvis who is credited with the founding of Mother's Day in the United States in 1908, opposed the commercialization of the day. She apparently was quoted saying that she regretted starting the day. Go Anna, I'm with you! Just kidding... sort of. I do find the whole commercialization of the day a little bit too much.
Anyway, like any guy for Mother's day, I spent the day... shopping. Okay, so maybe I was with Karen when I was shopping. And truth be told, we actually weren't shopping for Mother's Day. We were shopping for double strollers. Fun, I know.
With both of our mothers out of town, we decided to spend some quality family time by going shopping. Since we did not own a double stroller, Karen wanted to have one in place before she started back at her place of employment next week. Her reasoning was to allow the grandparents, who watch over our kids while we work, the chance to take both of them out for a walk at the same time.
Personally, I didn't feel the need for a double stroller, which may be the guy in me talking. But since it was Mother's Day, I wasn't going to argue. So double stroller it was.
After making a brief pit stop at the Babies 'R Us in Braintree, to make sure the double stroller would even fit in our car, we headed up north... to live free or die territory (New Hampshire). For anyone curious, Babies 'R Us did not have the stroller available to purchase. We had to make sure the floor model fit into our car. And when it did, we decided... heck... let's make a day of it and go north, particularly because Karen also was craving Ruby Tuesday.
I must agree with Karen, there needs to be a Ruby Tuesday closer to us. I had the Zucchini Cake Mini. It was delicious! The salad bar was also good too!
All in all, it turned out to be a fun day. The most memorable part for me, aside from Karen going to the Apple Store to play with an iPad, was assembling the newly purchased stroller outside the Sears the parking lot because it provided shade from the hot sun. If people could see us, which I'm sure they did, they must have thought we were nuts. Fun times. Fun times.
Showing posts with label mother's day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mother's day. Show all posts
Monday, May 14, 2012
Monday, May 11, 2009
I Suck At Mother's Day
yesterday was mother's day. happy belated mother's day. now, i suck at mother's day. it turns out that mother's day originated to honor mothers who lost their children.
according to my friend wikipedia:
"In its present form, Mother's Day was established by Anna Marie Jarvis, following the death of her mother on May 9, 1905; she campaigned to establish Mother's Day as a U.S. national, and later an international, holiday.
Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, the International Mother's Day Shrine is now a National Historic Landmark. From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states as early as 1912, beginning with West Virginia. On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made that proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war."
i found the whole origin of mother's day a little ironic. after all, karen and i lost our son (braden) last year. granted, we did not lose braden to a war (at least not in the invasion of land sense). he did, however, bravely fight until the end.
truth be told, neither karen nor i were particularly looking forward to mother's day. there were just too many reminders of braden's loss. after all, at this same time last year, karen and i were feeling the excitement of her pregnancy with braden and we had planned to share the news with... our respective mothers.
anyway, i really was not sure what to expect in the morning. i woke up early to make some carrot and raisin muffins to bring to my favorite sister-in-law's (janine) so that karen could sleep in. (it was, after all, her day.) janine was having their parents and my parents over for brunch. i was a little hesitant about the muffins at first because... well, i hardly bake... and i wasn't sure if they would even taste good. (i have been told, however, that the muffins turned out quite delicious.)
adding to my feeling of dread for the day was the fact that my parents got lost on the way to janine's. as i stood outside to flag my parents down, i kept thinking... this is going to be one of those days. as it turned out, it was a good time at janine's. the brunch was great. my parents had a fun time. my mom enjoyed playing wii bowling with my niece (kaleigh).
there was this one moment while at janine's where i almost started to tear. it really was not bad or anything. i had been playing with kaleigh for most of the day. as i sat with kaleigh on my lap at the dinner table, i looked up to see my mom smiling at me. it's tough for me to describe the look she had in her eyes. it was as though my mom were proudly smiling at me as i played with her grandchild or something. that's probably the best way i could describe it. despite everything that has happened, my mom was proud of me.
anyway, following brunch, karen and i went to visit braden at the cemetery. as it so happens, karen's parents had also planned on visiting braden after brunch. earlier in the day, karen's father told us a story about how braden was lucky yet again in helping him with a scratch ticket. that's my little angel.
needless to say, it was a little tough for me at the cemetery. every time i looked at braden's grave marker, all i could think of was what could have been. had my in-laws not been there at the cemetery with us, i probably would have broken down completely in tears.
the rest of the day simply passed by rather quickly. janine, my favorite brother-in-law (pj), my nephew (pj) and kaleigh stopped on over for a little while. it turns out, pj has never seen the movie: the sound of music. so there was some discussion about that while they were over.
as well, my bff (kerry) also stopped on over. kerry happened to be down in the south shore yesterday because she drove her mother home. her mother lives in hingham. it was great seeing kerry again. it was actually a great way to end the day because karen, kerry and i basically spent the rest of the night just hanging out, plopped on our couch cuddled in blankets, watching episodes of veronica mars. (for anyone curious, veronica mars is a great show. too bad it got cancelled.)
we had not watched any episodes of veronica mars in quite some time. so it was a little difficult to remember what happened the last time we watched the show. nonetheless, we had a fun time hanging out together.
all in all, i was pleasantly surprised about how the entire day turned out. don't get me wrong... by no means was i jumping for joy yesterday. i was expecting the day to be somber, or at least i was expecting myself to be in one of those anti-social moods. sure, i had my moments. but in general, the day was actually not as bad as i had been dreading.
and most importantly (because it was mother's day), karen was all right yesterday. she was actually probably better than me... feeling-wise. perhaps that was where braden got his strength of will from... his mom.
according to my friend wikipedia:
"In its present form, Mother's Day was established by Anna Marie Jarvis, following the death of her mother on May 9, 1905; she campaigned to establish Mother's Day as a U.S. national, and later an international, holiday.
Originally the Andrew's Methodist Episcopal Church, the site of the original Mother's Day commemoration, where Anna handed out carnations, the International Mother's Day Shrine is now a National Historic Landmark. From there, the custom caught on—spreading eventually to 46 states. The holiday was declared officially by some states as early as 1912, beginning with West Virginia. On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made that proclamation, declaring the first national Mother's Day, as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war."
i found the whole origin of mother's day a little ironic. after all, karen and i lost our son (braden) last year. granted, we did not lose braden to a war (at least not in the invasion of land sense). he did, however, bravely fight until the end.
truth be told, neither karen nor i were particularly looking forward to mother's day. there were just too many reminders of braden's loss. after all, at this same time last year, karen and i were feeling the excitement of her pregnancy with braden and we had planned to share the news with... our respective mothers.
anyway, i really was not sure what to expect in the morning. i woke up early to make some carrot and raisin muffins to bring to my favorite sister-in-law's (janine) so that karen could sleep in. (it was, after all, her day.) janine was having their parents and my parents over for brunch. i was a little hesitant about the muffins at first because... well, i hardly bake... and i wasn't sure if they would even taste good. (i have been told, however, that the muffins turned out quite delicious.)
adding to my feeling of dread for the day was the fact that my parents got lost on the way to janine's. as i stood outside to flag my parents down, i kept thinking... this is going to be one of those days. as it turned out, it was a good time at janine's. the brunch was great. my parents had a fun time. my mom enjoyed playing wii bowling with my niece (kaleigh).
there was this one moment while at janine's where i almost started to tear. it really was not bad or anything. i had been playing with kaleigh for most of the day. as i sat with kaleigh on my lap at the dinner table, i looked up to see my mom smiling at me. it's tough for me to describe the look she had in her eyes. it was as though my mom were proudly smiling at me as i played with her grandchild or something. that's probably the best way i could describe it. despite everything that has happened, my mom was proud of me.
anyway, following brunch, karen and i went to visit braden at the cemetery. as it so happens, karen's parents had also planned on visiting braden after brunch. earlier in the day, karen's father told us a story about how braden was lucky yet again in helping him with a scratch ticket. that's my little angel.
needless to say, it was a little tough for me at the cemetery. every time i looked at braden's grave marker, all i could think of was what could have been. had my in-laws not been there at the cemetery with us, i probably would have broken down completely in tears.
the rest of the day simply passed by rather quickly. janine, my favorite brother-in-law (pj), my nephew (pj) and kaleigh stopped on over for a little while. it turns out, pj has never seen the movie: the sound of music. so there was some discussion about that while they were over.
as well, my bff (kerry) also stopped on over. kerry happened to be down in the south shore yesterday because she drove her mother home. her mother lives in hingham. it was great seeing kerry again. it was actually a great way to end the day because karen, kerry and i basically spent the rest of the night just hanging out, plopped on our couch cuddled in blankets, watching episodes of veronica mars. (for anyone curious, veronica mars is a great show. too bad it got cancelled.)
we had not watched any episodes of veronica mars in quite some time. so it was a little difficult to remember what happened the last time we watched the show. nonetheless, we had a fun time hanging out together.
all in all, i was pleasantly surprised about how the entire day turned out. don't get me wrong... by no means was i jumping for joy yesterday. i was expecting the day to be somber, or at least i was expecting myself to be in one of those anti-social moods. sure, i had my moments. but in general, the day was actually not as bad as i had been dreading.
and most importantly (because it was mother's day), karen was all right yesterday. she was actually probably better than me... feeling-wise. perhaps that was where braden got his strength of will from... his mom.
Friday, May 8, 2009
I Suck At Finding A Mother's Day Present
around this time last year, i was digging up our front lawn to plant new grass. after all, our front lawn last year was disaster. of course, with the heaping mound of dirt and the equally heaping pile of rocks that are currently sitting in our driveway, our house still does not have any curb appeal. it's just that last year, our curb appeal was worse... if you can believe that.
i remember those days of sod-busting. i disliked it... immensely. it's amazing how things can quickly change over the course of a year. given the choice, i would prefer sod-busting over my current predicament: finding a mother's day present. i suck at finding a mother's day present.
under normal circumstances, i probably would not be a little depressed about finding a mother's day present. after all, i love my mother... no problem there. unfortunately, karen and i lost our son (braden) in september of last year.
when we lost braden, the grief counselors told us that the holidays would be rough on us. oh how true they were. christmas was a little lackluster this year... same as easter. even the birthday celebrations since september have been a little "blah". now, mother's day is not really a holiday per se... but it is a day to celebrate mothers nonetheless.
so naturally, i'm in a quandry. i'm compelled to find a present or do something for karen to honor braden. after all, karen is a mother herself. yet at the same time, my finding of a present is also a painful reminder to karen... and to myself... that we lost our son. had braden survived, this issue would not even exist. i'm pretty sure that right now, braden would want us to celebrate his mother without him. nonetheless, it's easier said than done.
i'm not even sure what i'll end up doing. i know karen does not expect me to get her anything. she's not even sure how she'll feel on sunday... the actual mother's day. i have a feeling that i'll probably be feeling the same way when father's day arrives.
anyway, i don't know if this emotional rollercoaster for karen and i will ever end. i just know that this year karen and i will be thinking of braden on mother's day... and probably every mother's day after that. so while everyone else joyfully celebrates their mothers, i can only hope that everyone else also celebrates and remembers those mothers who lost children... and those women who are unable to be mothers.
i remember those days of sod-busting. i disliked it... immensely. it's amazing how things can quickly change over the course of a year. given the choice, i would prefer sod-busting over my current predicament: finding a mother's day present. i suck at finding a mother's day present.
under normal circumstances, i probably would not be a little depressed about finding a mother's day present. after all, i love my mother... no problem there. unfortunately, karen and i lost our son (braden) in september of last year.
when we lost braden, the grief counselors told us that the holidays would be rough on us. oh how true they were. christmas was a little lackluster this year... same as easter. even the birthday celebrations since september have been a little "blah". now, mother's day is not really a holiday per se... but it is a day to celebrate mothers nonetheless.
so naturally, i'm in a quandry. i'm compelled to find a present or do something for karen to honor braden. after all, karen is a mother herself. yet at the same time, my finding of a present is also a painful reminder to karen... and to myself... that we lost our son. had braden survived, this issue would not even exist. i'm pretty sure that right now, braden would want us to celebrate his mother without him. nonetheless, it's easier said than done.
i'm not even sure what i'll end up doing. i know karen does not expect me to get her anything. she's not even sure how she'll feel on sunday... the actual mother's day. i have a feeling that i'll probably be feeling the same way when father's day arrives.
anyway, i don't know if this emotional rollercoaster for karen and i will ever end. i just know that this year karen and i will be thinking of braden on mother's day... and probably every mother's day after that. so while everyone else joyfully celebrates their mothers, i can only hope that everyone else also celebrates and remembers those mothers who lost children... and those women who are unable to be mothers.
Monday, May 12, 2008
I Suck At Mother's Day
yesterday, karen and i celebrated mother's day by having her parents, her grandmother, and my parents over for lunch. as with most things involving my family, i get a little stressed. don't get me wrong, i love my parents. they are great parents. i think sometimes i just get stressed because they are my parents.
anyway, i suck at mother's day. while karen was preparing the vegetables, the couscous and the potatoes in the kitchen, i was grilling the pork outside. my mom even cooked some scallion pancakes... which she shouldn't have because it was mother's day and i wanted her to take a break and relax. sad to say, she likes to cook for people and consequently wanted to cook scallion pancakes for karen's parents, particularly karen's father. (my mom always likes to be doing something... preferably cooking for people. her dream job, if she could have one, would probably be to open a take out chinese restaurant and cook all day for people.)
similarly, my dad likes to be constantly doing something. shortly after lunch he started digging up the lawn to help with the sod-busting project. he was not dressed at all to work on the house, let alone the dirt of our front lawn. i know my parents want to do things and help. sometimes, i wish they could relax and simply let me do things for them once. after all, they have done so much for me already. it's things like that which stress me out. i probably shouldn't complain about the fact that my parents like to be busy and do things for me. i suppose it could be worse.
anyway, i hope everyone enjoyed mother's day. (pictured below is my mom opening her present. she seemed quite ecstatic with the box. and no, it was not a big box of nothing...)
while my dad did some sod-busting, my mom went shopping after lunch to a.c. moore with karen, karen's mother, and karen's grandmother. (my mom bought a box.) so, at least my mom did get to do something nice for herself on mother's day (albeit it was to buy a box).
anyway, happy mother's day mom. i love you.
anyway, i suck at mother's day. while karen was preparing the vegetables, the couscous and the potatoes in the kitchen, i was grilling the pork outside. my mom even cooked some scallion pancakes... which she shouldn't have because it was mother's day and i wanted her to take a break and relax. sad to say, she likes to cook for people and consequently wanted to cook scallion pancakes for karen's parents, particularly karen's father. (my mom always likes to be doing something... preferably cooking for people. her dream job, if she could have one, would probably be to open a take out chinese restaurant and cook all day for people.)
similarly, my dad likes to be constantly doing something. shortly after lunch he started digging up the lawn to help with the sod-busting project. he was not dressed at all to work on the house, let alone the dirt of our front lawn. i know my parents want to do things and help. sometimes, i wish they could relax and simply let me do things for them once. after all, they have done so much for me already. it's things like that which stress me out. i probably shouldn't complain about the fact that my parents like to be busy and do things for me. i suppose it could be worse.
anyway, i hope everyone enjoyed mother's day. (pictured below is my mom opening her present. she seemed quite ecstatic with the box. and no, it was not a big box of nothing...)
while my dad did some sod-busting, my mom went shopping after lunch to a.c. moore with karen, karen's mother, and karen's grandmother. (my mom bought a box.) so, at least my mom did get to do something nice for herself on mother's day (albeit it was to buy a box).
anyway, happy mother's day mom. i love you.
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