Happy Mother's Day!

I've never particularly cared about Mother's Day. In fact, I've always found it a bit stressful. I'm a mother but I have a mother and a mother-in-law so the holiday never seemed like a good day for me. Since my mother and my husband's mother both live within driving distance of me but not particularly close to one another, the holiday is pretty much like Christmas. I spend the weekend dividing my time between two other women, both of whom I buy gifts for. And some years we've even spent the Sunday before or after with the mother we didn't see on Mother's Day rather than dividing up the actual day or the entire weekend of Mother's Day between the two.

Don't get me wrong. I love both women, but I don't like feeling as if I have to see them on one particular day in order to be a good daughter/daughter-in-law. Of course, neither my mother or my husband's expect a visit or even a gift, but I feel as if I have to visit and give gifts. It becomes a dangerous holiday for me because I usually get cranky from feeling the stress.

Grouchy or not, I usually tell my husband not to buy me anything so we can spend money on our mothers. And I honestly mean it. But he still gets me a card, or a rosebush or something small. But if he doesn't get me anything, that's okay too.

In my opinion, Mother's Day is a Hallmark Holiday, specifically designed to increase sales for card companies. And I learned today while reading a fellow author's post that even the holiday's creator, Anna Jarvis, eventually regretted coming up with the holiday because it had become a "Hallmark Holiday." (If you want to read Lorelei Confer's post on mother's day, you can find it at http://www.loreleiconfer.blogspot.com.)

My mother has told me time and again that I'm a mother too and I should take the day for myself and not worry about visiting her or buying her gifts. But then, I feel like I have to go visit her because she really is a terrific mother. And I know she means what she says, but I still feel as if I have to go visit.

But this year, is already different. Better even. I spent time with my mother-in-law last weekend. We took her to the beach and out to eat, and it wasn't stressful. And we got to spend time at the beach which is always a plus. And tomorrow, my parents are coming to MY house and going with us to church before going out to eat. No pressure.

And I already gave my Mom her gift when she stopped by to see me at work. (I just happened to have the jewelry box in my pocketbook.)So, there's no pressure on my daughter either because we go to the same church as her boyfriend's family so she'll get to spend time with me, her grandmother, and her boyfriend's mother and grandmother.

Nice. No stress. I won't have to cook lunch or rush from one place to the next trying to squeeze in two visits in two different towns. And best of all, even though I told my husband, "no gifts" and I didn't expect one, he gave me the best gift EVER yesterday. He gave me a Nook! And I love it! But...it's evil.

Since getting my Nook, I haven't cleaned the house or washed clothes, or worked on my manuscript. I spent all last night playing with it, learning how it works, and downloading music and e-books. Then I stayed up late reading a short story by another TWRP author, Beth Caudill. And this morning, I listened to music on it while reading playing around with the features and surfing the web for Nook covers.

Yep, it's evil. But I love it.

So, Happy Mother's Day. And may yours be as non-stressful and relaxing as the day I have planned tomorrow.