Mother's Day
Two kids invading my personal space all hours of the day makes you forget what time, day or month it is. However, I haven’t lost track of Mother’s Day. A holiday I don’t typically make a big deal, but being that one or both of my children says, “Mom, Mommy and Mom-mom-mom!” every waking second since quarantine, has me celebrating this Mother’s Day like it’s the biggest holiday to hit the calendar.
I must say my kids have handled this whole unexpected experience far better than I could have ever imagined. I am beyond grateful—that of all people—I am stuck with the two of them. That being said, to be stuck with anyone 24/7 is bound to get old. When they closed the skateparks, Sandler’s four hour skate sessions and my four hours of alone time were deleted. Our together time got old very quickly.
After the first few days of the Stay at Home order, I had to come up with something creative to entertain and keep him from going into a serious depression due to his livelihood being put on hold. I convinced him that he was not alone; his fellow skaters were equally frustrated and eager to get back on their boards. Being the empath that he is, it didn’t make him feel any better that his buddies were suffering as well. That’s when I explained to him that all of his pals would be using this time to cross train.
Since he had no idea what cross training meant, I pulled out a few Rocky movies for inspiration and decked Sandler out in boxing shorts and gloves. He began working out endlessly to “Eye of the Tiger” and the Rocky theme song, doing pushups and pull-ups. Once we got the okay to go outside, it was time to take it to the streets. As much as he needed to believe he was getting in fighting shape to return to the skateparks, selfishly I needed the few feet of space between us. I started running as they rode their bikes along side.
Turns out they make the best personal trainers one could ask for. The closer they ride next to me the faster I run to maintain that little bit of social distancing my sanity needs. The more time I need away from them the farther I run. Yesterday we completed an eight mile run / bike ride so I could simply avoid having to hear the words, “Mom, Mommy and Mom-mom-mom” for over an hour. It was painful (literally) but beautiful, and I’m quite certain we got our skating-legs back.
This is sure to be a Mother’s Day that will not be forgotten. Though I’ll complain about spending the entire day running like Forrest Gump with my kids following along on their bikes, I’ll secretly enjoy almost every second of it. Happy Mother’s Day!