Word to your mother! That's right...it's nearly Mother's Day!

In her day, my mother had many bits of wisdom that she imparted our way. Specifically, 1) if you are going to kill one another, you should do it outside so as to keep the kitchen tidy, and 2) you should never leave the house without first going to the bathroom. There was something in there, too, about running with knives...

I admit that my advice to my own kids might not be a whole lot better, despite my best attempts at this mothering gig. I have a lot of shortcomings. If you came in to my home right now, for example, you'd likely find that the bathroom needs cleaned and that there is a heap of dollies in the bottom of the tub having some kind of orgy near the drain. There are scraps of Band-Aids everywhere because my kids have it in their heads that any injury is Band-Aid worthy. My daughter also likes to play doctor, and plaster her brother with athletic tape. It's just the dynamic here, yo. And recently, my husband purged our home of all the picture books without words, because I kept making up stories like, "Plastic Bag Space Helmet and Other Fun Activities," and "The Day Mr. Fork and Ms. Electrical Outlet Became Friends."

Of course, I take comfort in the fact that I am a better mother than this woman:

Unless you've been in a spider hole somewhere, you've no doubt heard about this lady, who was charged with putting her badly burned 6-year old in a tanning bed. Clearly, she  is innocent. It's totally apparent that she was simply trying to uphold a family resemblance. I mean, if you were this woman's daughter, wouldn't you want to be just like her when you grew up?

...I digress...

Generally, I don't celebrate Mother's Day. In part, it's because I am afraid someone will buy me something like this:

Nothing like infuriating and confounding your birth-giver all at the same time.



But the primary reason is because, yes, I know I am loved and appreciated. I know that, despite my shortcomings, my children are still young enough to think that I know what I am doing, that I am generally right most of the time, and that their mother is pretty cool. (That will all change in time, I expect.) My husband has willingly and without complaint assumed the domestic duties while I travel with my bike, and my kids have been on the sidelines of more than a few races, cheering on their mother no matter where I am in the pack.

So, unlike the scores of moms waiting in line for bad service at family-friendly restaurants, or inundated with flowers requiring some kind of care that will no doubt be neglected among the myriad of more pressing maternal obligations, I will be on my bike with my favorite cycling partners, going for a nice, long ride. In fact, I am glad to just be home with them this weekend. Despite having a good time racing and riding, I've been missing my family.

And I am glad that they are mine, because it could be a whole lot worse...