How the Grinch Stole Mother's Day

Suffice it to say, I spent most of Mother’s Day with a chip on my shoulder approximately the size of the Grand Canyon. The reason – DH said he didn’t have time to get me a Mother’s Day gift. No gift, no messy breakfast in bed, no homemade treats from the kiddos, no half-dead bouquet of flowers from the grocery store, nothing, nada, zip, zilch. Oh, I got a card. This from a man who spent the entire previous week in LA – the Land-o’-Gifts – while I, on the other hand, spent the week up to my elbows in poop and pee as I potty trained OUR three year old. (I was successful, I might add – he hasn’t had an accident in a week and he is waking up dry in the morning – forget the gift, I need a MEDAL!)

Then I remembered this…


And this…


And this…


Yesterday marked the 3rd anniversary of our newly potty trained son’s open heart surgery to correct a congenital heart defect. After his successful surgery, our baby boy suffered nearly fatal post-operative complications. For 48 hours we kept a vigil not knowing whether his almond-sized, newly plumbed, heart was going to recover from its abnormal arrhythmia. On hour 49 – we walked into his CVICU room and the first words out of his cardiovascular intensivist’s mouth were, “I think we’ve turned a corner.” From that moment on, his recovery was fairly text book and we were discharged 3 weeks later. We’ve had some secondary issues since that surgery – gross motor skill and speech delays – but otherwise, he is a happy, healthy, comedic, 3 year old.

Perspective smacked me squarely in the face. I immediately took out my groveling shovel and started filling my “chip” with lots of repentance, humility, and gratitude. I forgot about presents and reflected on the three glorious years I’ve had as the Mom to this precious boy – and the two other heart healthy children I’ve been blessed with. They are truly magnificant!

Then I went to the grocery store and bought myself a 50% discounted bouquet of flowers.