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For me Mother’s Day has always been just like every other day. Sometimes I take a walk around the block early in the morning and try to find some nice flowers to pick out of a random neighbor’s yard. Or maybe make some cheesy card by hand or on the computer. But most years I just wake up, say a quick "happy Mother’s Day mom, you’re great" in some sarcastic voice and go on about my day. However, May 9, 2004, I’m going to make a big effort to make my mom the happiest and most relaxed mother there is. You see, it wasn’t until my parents went to Hawaii recently that I realized just how much my mom has to do, not to mention has to deal with emotionally. These past couple of days I’ve been playing or taking the role of "mommy" for my little brother Dillon and our dog Zeus, not to mention that I have a few extended family members living with us too. My grandmother Madge, my uncle David, and my Aunt Beth with her adorable dog TJ, who is disabled, have been onboard as well. And as much as I love them, sometimes it takes all my energy just to stay sane. As the saying goes "you can choose your friends, but not your family." My extended duties started at 4:45 a.m. on a Sunday morning, when I was given the task of driving my giddy parents to the airport. Besides the fact that I am in no way a morning person I feel I did pretty well listening to 30 minutes of "don’t forget to do this, or make sure Dillon does this, or be sure to get milk." From then on it has just gotten more and more stressful; for example, grocery shopping with a 12-year-old boy who can eat more milk and cereal in a week than I could in a year while shopping on a tight budget. Or doing laundry and making sure to switch the loads before the clothes in the dryer get wrinkles. However, the hardest thing so far has been getting up every morning at 6:00 a.m. and getting a shower, then taking the dog out to play, then running inside to wake Dillon up for a shower, and making sure he gets breakfast. Oh, and let me tell you, he isn’t a morning person either. I think two non-morning people getting up really early and being forced to work around each other isn’t a good combination. On most mornings I wake up around 7:10, get a shower, get dressed and walk out the door brushing my hair and tying my shoes in the car while my mom drives. All while bickering about how I have to go to school and trying to convince my mom I’m somehow sick. But the week I’ve been responsible for everyone, everything’s been different. I don’t know how my mom does it. How does she put up with all of us and still manage to stay positive? My mom also works full-time here in the city and comes home almost every day at lunch to fix her mother some lunch. Also, she is very committed to the church and helps teach a small Alpha group and a Bible study. She also goes to meetings every Wednesday and co-chairs the Special Education Advisory Committee meetings as well. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that part of my mom’s life during the week I played mother. I think I would have had a total mental break down. Now I finally understand why there is an entire day devoted to mothers. I
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