Mother's Day was awesome this year! I think even if there were no gifts or cards and only the sun came up, I would be happy. Having a beautiful day to spend outside was gift enough. God knew what He was doing by giving all of us a day off to just relax and spend time with those we love.
In the spirit of saving money, we chose to not go to a brunch which we have done in the past. We do love to go out for lunch, but on Mother's Day the costs go through the roof, especially for a large family. We went shopping for BBQ food instead and though the weather was potentially rainy, we hoped for the best and the day ended up being absolutely perfect weather-wise.
There is so much pressure to give in to the culture again and spend spend spend on gifts that we really don't need. Because I love gifts so much, it is always hard for me to not secretly (or not-so-secretly) hope for a bounty on a day like Mother's Day or even my birthday, but those expectations then can ruin my family and their bank accounts. What has been helping me recently is this debt-reduction plan. In my mind, I've started treating all the holidays a little bit like our approach to Christmas. In other words, perhaps a gift, but definitely more on the small side or even nothing.
In the past, I've acknowledged all the holidays and used to buy more than I should have, including Valentine's Day and other holidays such as Easter where you don't typically get gifts, yet the malls make you feel you should be giving them. I've now tried to make these days still special with making delicious food for breakfast which we need to eat anyway, but no gifts. What helps me keep this up, as I really want to buy gifts each time, is the idea of forward thinking again with respect to my children and their future homes. If I give them an appetite for gifts at every single occasion, then they'll think they have to do this as well.
I think my parents did a good job of this, keeping things always moderate, never over-doing it. Working for a Christian organization for a lot of my childhood meant there was not a lot of extra money left over for extravagance, but we still felt like each holiday was acknowledged even if it was just a small little treat. That's what I'm trying to do, but if it weren't for this debt plan, I would definitely do overkill.
My husband made me coffee and brought it to me in bed as well as the girls made a delicious breakfast which I also enjoyed in bed. Gift enough! Then there were flowers waiting for me downstairs by my oldest daughter followed by a couple notes written by my children sweet enough to make me cry. My oldest son gave me a "gift card" which said, "I will do one horrible task - anything you want me to do." Great gift! I knew what it was right away - CLEAN THE VAN! He has to do it! Love it.
My husband sent me on a holiday only days earlier, so he was kind of off the hook, but I still gave him a list of things he has to do for me once he's done his major contract - simple things, that we need anyway - a clothesline, a working vacuum system (our's is broken and I'm using a shop-vac inside!), shelves in the mudroom.....and on and on..... my mother's day will go on and on if he gets those things done (and the list also goes on and on!)
The rest of the days was spent by going to a different church which was a wonderful experience. The pastor that was speaking that day was a good friend of our's from years ago! It was so great to hear him speak and to be blessed by him that day. Then back to the house where we did a quick tidy and then my in-laws came for a wonderful BBQ. After that we sat outside under the shade of our big tree and just relaxed and talked and laughed.
I think the best part of the day was when the kids suddenly realized they needed to get me one more gift - a volleyball! I think that was code for they needed one more gift, but we let them believe it was for me, so off they went, picked up my last gift and came home to play with my gift. So funny. It was actually really fun and believe it or not, I did play with them! Always trying to be the fun mom!
The day ended off with one more BBQ'd meal as it was still so nice out and I love BBQ'ing, so we threw on some meat and I added some vegetables which I also love BBQ'd and the day was nearly over. We finished it off with a trip to get some ice-cream as a whole family which was the perfect end to Mother's Day.
I love being a mom. Yes, it is a 24/7 job (and that includes last night, again!) and there are very few breaks, but the rewards are immeasurable.
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