My sweet boys

I know I tend to brag a bit about my boys but what mother doesn't? Here it goes again.

This morning while making breakfast, I notice the floors are a mess so started sweeping and told the boys "Today, we are going to clean this house!"

When the boys asked to be excused from their breakfast, they both disappeared upstairs. When I didn't hear anything, I became suspicious (silence is more dangerous than noise with two boys). I peek upstairs to see them both diligently cleaning their rooms - UNPROMPTED! Yep, it was amazing. I snuck away and minutes later they appear downstairs and announce they have a surprise for me. They take me upstairs to show me their clean rooms. They have put any toys/books away, lined up their stuffed animals, and washed down their bathroom counters with their hand towels. SO sweet.

But this is not why I think they are the sweetest ever.

I praised them, hugs all around, then gave them each a quarter for their piggy banks for helping mommy clean the house. Such good helpers!

Then a few minutes later while I am cleaning up in my room, they both appear. Luke hands me his soccer trophy from last season and Jake gives me a St. Patty's day beaded necklace. "What's this for?" I ask them.

"For giving us a quarter and for being the best mommy ever."

Yep, eyes well up, my heart swells with pride for my two sweet boys. AND I vow to remember this later today when they will inevitably try my patience.

Happy Un-Mother's Day

What are you going to do this Mother's Day? If like me you are a mother to small children, I bet I can guess what you secretly want but don't want to ask for.

Since having kids, every day of the year we are mothers. We work, cook, clean, do laundry. We somehow manage to always remember snack day, hat day, blue shirt day, sports team day, and beach party day. We switch hats between mom, chef, coach, referee, psychologist, teacher, disciplinarian, hider, seeker, tagger, taggee, and even Princess Leia once in a while. We truly love our kids and our husbands. Ok, well most of the time we do.

What we really want for Mother's Day is to have an Un-Mother's Day. One day where we can pretend we are carefree, where we can shirk all those responsibilities if only for few hours.

So husbands, here is what you need to do: take the kids out of the house for the entire day or better yet, send us away for the day to a spa or shopping or out to dinner with friends or other moms.

We will love you for it. And you may even find the favor returned come Father's, I mean Un-Father's Day.