Happy Mother's Day all you moms out there! Really is true: best job in the world. Not the easiest, though ;) My Mother's Day was a Do It Yourself one with hubby still away (how long is a week anyway??). Last night I fell asleep planning all the nice options out there for spending this day. It brought a smile just thinking about what me and the boys could do as a special treat but at the same time I realized the 'fun' needed to balanced out with 'practicality' and hence I decided to continue thinking about this the following morning. Practicalities can easily dampen the mood a bit. Yes, it was time to call it a night when I started leaning towards the highlight of Mother's Day being a trip to the supermarket and back...! That's life in the suburbs alright when a trip downtown ends up being a grocery run. Well, I still wouldn't have it any other way and that was again literally brought home tonight when our next door neighbors popped in for a quick hello, evolving into dinner together. Especially while I've been single-parenting with hubby away traveling (Chengdu's panda reserve today, of all places!!), the rest of us have been getting the best out of suburban living. Fresh air every day. Peaceful strolls outside admiring beautiful butterflies, squished frogs, and fresh puddles. Morning splashes at the communal swimming pool. And most important of all, true neighborhood spirit! Now I know why many people strive for a 'village atmosphere' even in places like downtown Manhattan. It's not just knowing your neighbors, by face and perhaps even by name but actually knowing them. Seeing your kids play together every day. Being able to turn to them when you need someone to watch your kids for a bit. Someone who checks up on you when they know your baby's been sick. This past week two different neighbors brought over food, one of them full dinner - twice! Another mom and daughter dropped in for unscheduled playtime. So this is what people mean by the village raising kids together...!
Bedtime in Bali
So that was pretty much how Mother's Day was for me today: lots of cuddles, a couple of walks, some swimming, food shared with neighbors, phone call from panda-encountering husband, dishwashing at least 5 times, diaper changing countless times, some reprimands for deviant 3 year old's behavior, a thunder storm, cartoons, Donald Duck, skype call to my mom, blogging, drawn-out bedtime again, now gorgeous little boys sleeping. Never did make it to town, even to the supermarket. Never even made it to the shower, hence yucky greasy hair. But, it's 9:30 pm and this means Mother's Night! Nope, not going to get to do what some of my mom friends here did which was go out and get pampered together, sans kids. Massage and dinner. Jealous!! But not really. There's always time for that but these cuddly-baby moments really do go so incredibly quickly. My eldest is already 3.5 years and even baby is turning SIX MONTHS this week...!! No more newborn... So, the best mother's night for me is this: watching my boys sleep, now take that long overdue shower and actually wash this teenagy hair, watch a bit of tv, check out nice blogs (like mine ;) on the internet, munch on a bit of chocolate, relax, dream of nice things to do tomorrow...
Good night.
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