Mothers Day, My Way

Back in 2017 I eschewed the typical Mother's Day brunch and sweet (but unsuccessful) attempts from the boys to get me to relax.  I don't relax, and even if I tried, there is no escaping the every day duties of "momming" if I am around my family.  Instead, my idea was for the whole family to spend the day doing something that I wanted to do, irrespective of fun factor for the group.  I had no idea it would grow into a full blown tradition, but it  Mother's Day coinciding with the beginning of the cherry season it became my natural choice.

2019

2018 had a catastrophic late rain in early May that destroyed the early cherry crop. I was also studying for a board exam that left me devoid of motivation to do anything fun.  But by 2019 we were back at it and this time we brought Uncle Alvin with us!

2020

We were unsure of what COVID might do to our beloved tradition, but cherry picking turned out to be one of the safest things to do since it was outdoors and socially distant.  Here we are in our newly sewn face masks, and with the kids homeschooling we took ended up taking a weekday afternoon to beat the crowds. We look so happy in all the photos, you wouldn't guess that one of the most humiliating experiences of my parenting-life was about to happen.  As we exited the farm Linus spat cherry seeds rapid-fire style at his brothers, to the horror of me and everyone else who saw. At the time we knew that COVID spread through droplets and watching Linus generate spit along with projectiles literally made me want to die.  Motherhood does that sometimes I guess.

2021

This year the cherries came a little later but just in time for Mother's Day. No picture of me and the kids this year... we also came too early for the yellow Ranier variety.  I guess we have to go back later in the month :)

One difference this year is that Linus, approaching 13, lacked the same gusto for eating and picking fruit he had in years past.  It's one change that's made me nostalgic for the unfettered enthusiasm of childhood, and forced me to realize that while I will always care for them in some way, their childhood has a hard stop. What surprised me most was that despite our year of isolating together we didn't see the end of Linus' boyhood coming, yet it unfolded right in front of us. He's becoming his own person and our relationship has to change along with him.