A few nights back, at bedtime, I was in my son’s bed reading him a book my mom had gotten him. “The Flying Aardvark” by Louise Scott. It’s a cute little book about an aardvark who spends all of his time trying to become a bird just to finally succeed and find out he is afraid of heights and wants to stay on the ground and be an aardvark after all!
Anyways, because I knew my mom had gotten him the book, it reminded the back of my mind that Mother’s Day was right around the corner. I still don’t truly think of Mother’s Day as MY day. Somedays I still find it hard to believe I’m a mother. Like, all the little people are relying on me to have the things and know the things and be the things….yikes! I still think fart jokes are funny and run out of gas like twice a year and I’m the leader of this ship?! S.O.S.
I still think of Mother’s Day as a day for the real moms. My Mom, my Meema, my Aunts, all my friends’ moms who became like second moms to me. Now those girls know how to lead a ship!! They have the first aid kits, the organizational skills, the cleaning hacks, homemade recipes for the holidays and just the right words of encouragement for all of life’s problems!
Me on the other hand…I forget a lot of things. A lot of things! A year or so ago, my daughter was telling me just that.
“Mom you forget a lot of things” she said from the back of my van as I was upside down searching everywhere for my keys.
As I found the keys, started the car and caught my breath I felt my ego creep up a little.
“I forget a lot of things because…”
As I looked in the rearview mirror and saw her sweet, innocent face, I stopped mid-sentence. It dawned on me that she didn’t seem to be at all bothered that I forget things. She was looking at me with innocent, pure love just stating the facts the way she saw them. And the fact is that I forget a lot of things.
So I said, “because I do. I always have! But you know what I’ll never forget? I’ll never forget how much I love you!”
She giggled and rolled her eyes. We say that to each other a lot now.
“Don’t forget the love!”
It’s become our slang for don’t forget to give me a kiss and hug, or a way to hint to her to go easy on her brother when she is losing her temper with him. It’s a reminder to not forget each other in the midst of the long list of to-dos.
I have to admit, though, I’m not the first person to say “Don’t forget the love”. Jesus basically told his disciples the same thing at the Last Supper.
John 13:34…look it up…it’s my favorite!
And now, that I really think about all those real mothers I celebrate on Mother’s Day, I realize it wasn’t just the perfectly stocked first aid kit and the homemade recipes or the way they knew the answer to all my life questions! It was that they never forgot the love! The love was the “secret in the sauce”.
Happy Mother’s Day to every single Mama out there! You are strong, capable and enough. Stop wasting time trying to be a bird. I promise you, your children and God love you for the beautiful aardvark that you are! Be yourself! And don’t forget the love…not just for your children, but the love for yourself too, Mama!
Safe Travels!
Morgan Rae
