my mother’s day

*disclaimer*

This story may or may not change the way you think of me.  I can’t really be concerned with anyone who might judge me.  This is the way I felt and there’s nothing anyone can do to change it.  This is kinda long, so settle in...

 

My Mother’s Day began Saturday morning.  Since my mom is a minister, we celebrate most holidays on Saturday. Her church held a revival service on Saturday morning and my sons and I hopped on the highway to go (it’s in a different city).

 

On the way there,  I realize that I hadn’t checked my 10 year old’s outfit and he’ll do some crazy stuff sometimes.  Well, it looked like he’d played 4 football games in the jeans that he’d put on.

 

So I planned to hit WalMart and pick up some shorts or slacks so he’d be presentable.  We get there and lo and behold, WalMart’s moved and I haven’t a clue where to...So having seen a JC Penney, we went back and hit it.  Now church began at 11:00 and we didn’t even leave my city until 10:50 and it takes at least 20 -30 minutes to get to this other city, so that coupled with the fact that now we have to shop, I know I’m gonna have to hear it.  Well Penney’s had a helluva sale and I ended up buying 2 outfits each for the boys and I made my son change in the car.

 

We get to church and find that one of the ministers had car trouble and got there late and service was just starting.

 

It was a good service with 3 dynamic ministers and we had dinner at church.

Later in the day, my mother wanted to go out to eat since we rarely get to go anywhere as a family anymore and my sister and nephew, brother, mother and my sons ate and clowned like we used to do.

 

I came home and got in bed and slept until about 11 and was up talking to someone until about 6 am.

 

I woke up Sunday about noon and decided that I wasn’t going to do a durn thing except take my sons to see their grandmothers and I attempted to read for a bit when the boys started arguing.  After that crap went on back and forth for about 5 minutes, I decided to intervene.

 

Well that worked for all of 30 seconds before they were at it again.  Now I already woke up rather depressed.  Yes, I still get that way sometimes.  Deedles gets tired.  Tired of working.  Tired of parenting.  Tired of being the head of household.  Tired of being alone.  Tired of being sick.  Sometimes I just want to crawl into a hole and die. 

 

Yeah.

 

This particular day, I wanted to sign my kids over to someone and just walk away from my responsibilities.  Really.  The Mother’s Day wishes went right out the window with the arguments.  My youngest son had given me a homemade card with a bunch of pictures and my son gave me a hearty Happy Mother’s Day and then they denied me the only thing I asked for that day...peace.

 

I decided that I was going to take a book and go to my favorite getaway spot at the lake even though it was only 55 outside.

 

I told the boys they could go, but there would be no arguing, we’d go to Barnes and Noble and they could pick out a book within a certain price range (discount).

 

So what does my oldest do?  Picks out a temporary tattoo kit.  I ask him if he has money because first of all, it’s over the amount I’ve set.  Secondly, he didn’t ask if I’d be willing to pay for it, he just handed it to me like it was a no questions asked situation.

 

He gets MAJOR attitude and storms off.  So when we get to the car (he didn’t get anything) he gets quite an earful from me.  It pisses him off more that I refuse to drive off until I have said EVERYTHING I had to say.

 

I then proceed to tell him I will gladly buy him something to eat and take his ass home so I can make my trip to the lake.  By the time the food is purchased, he does a complete turnaround and says he wants to go to the lake.

 

We stop and get some cheap loaves of bread to feed the ducks and such and head on out.

 

We get there and there’s a gaggle of Canadian geese, like the one above and there are two goslings.  They’re fuzzy and almost have a greenish cast to them, but they’re cute.  

 

Evidently they eat differently than the older geese because they just kinda walk around while the adults grab every piece of bread they can.

 

Pretty soon we notice a hug crow hanging around. We figure he’s gonna try to get in on the bread feast too and we laugh when some of the adult geese chase him off.  Well he keeps coming back, so we sit and wait because we just know he’s gonna grab some.  Pretty soon he swoops down in between the geese and GRABS A GOSLING!!!!   He flies off and we’re hollering (like that’s gonna do something) and it goes up in a tree and flings it back and forth to kill it.  The stupid geese don’t even notice!  Then I start feeling bad because they’re still going after bread.  The crow then flies out of the tree and over to an open space where it begins to peck the gosling to death and it then flies over to some rocks and drops it and covers it with leaves.

 

The kids are not big National Geographic watchers like I am,  so they’re freaking out.  I explain to them that this is nature.  Everything eats something and its always the weaker ones that get got.  The old, the sick, the young.

 

While I’m explaining this to them, I’ll be damned if the crow doesn’t come back and start swooping for the other gosling!  I guess by that time, the geese realize there’s only one and they start to rush the crow every chance they get, but that proves to be futile when the crow succeeds in getting the second gosling.  

 

It does the same thing...takes it to the tree, then to an open area, kills it and buries it.  Then it goes back to the first one and starts to pluck it.  We’re watching it, stunned and the unthinkable happens.  It pecks the damn head off and flies right past the car with it hanging out of its mouth.  

 

I’ll spare you other details, but my oldest son gets sick instantly (cuz that’s what he does).  After that trauma we actually manage to have a decent time.

 

It came to me later that maybe God was trying to tell me that I’d better appreciate all aspects of being a parent because my children could be taken away in a flash, like the goslings.

 

That was my day...