Mom Gets to Eat a Hot Meal

Today my mom, sister and I held a baby shower for my sister-in-law, the fabulous Moll-Doll. My mom has hosted more family parties, holidays, random meals, etc., etc., than I can count. Rather than these events getting easier over the years they have seemed to become a tad more stressful for my mom than they used to be. I get it, it's a lot of work. A lot of being "on," and a lot of post-event clean up. Also, my mom is getting older - which, let's face it - means being a bit less energized than she used to be.

Back to the baby shower. Usually when my mom hosts an event my sister and I try to get over a few hours early and lend a hand. I'll own it, this used to make me crazy. I wanted to just show up and have everything handled and ready to roll (I know, that's pretty selfish). As I'd be helping my mom out I'd find my patience wearing thin within fifteen minutes. Inevitably I'd lose my cool, snap at my mom and probably say something snotty that I'd then feel bad about and either regretfully apologize for and/or feel guilty about later having said nothing at all to let my mom know I didn't mean to be such a brat.

Cut to today. My sister and I showed up and found my mom outside in the garage with the vaccuum cleaner laying in pieces. Evidently the thing had gone haywire and broken down at the very moment my mom needed it most - before 20 females were going to come over and hang around her house for a few hours. I could tell she was at a level 15 on the stress meter. I got out of the car, said hi, and told her I could tell she was feeling stressed. I followed it up by saying "It's just a shower mom, we'll figure the vaccuum out, don't worry about it." I could tell it helped a little.

My sister and I went in the house and kept the vibe calm. We decorated, went and got balloons, put the food out and there was no fuss. We all just worked together and enjoyed the task at hand. The shower went off without a hitch. We ate, we drank, we were merry. As we wrapped up the shower there was a pretty hefty clean-up that needed to happen. In the past this is when I pass out on the couch or hit the road (again, I know this makes me pretty selfish), this time I grabbed the dishes, hit the kitchen and got busy. Know what the really amazing part was? I enjoyed the clean-up. Know who enjoyed it more? My mom. She got to spend the last hour of the baby shower visiting. Not waiting on people or making up plates or cleaning up serving dishes that guests needed to take home - she just enjoyed her guests. It reminds me of "A Christmas Story" when Ralph says he doesn't think his mother ever ate a hot meal because she was always waiting on one of her family members during dinner - my mom embodies this too. Today, I hope she got to "eat a hot meal." :) P.S. - Mom I love you :)