Mother's Day

There had been a dearth of art projects coming home from preschool. I wondered what the children were doing; any questions to Monkey1 were returned with "I don't know" or "I forgot."

Then, the Mother's Day gifts! Monkey1 couldn't wait for me to open them, so I unwrapped them the day they came home, four days before Mother's Day. I received a full-color drawing of myself, complete with ten fingers, and a dishwasher-safe plastic dinner plate with a colorful self-portrait of Monkey1. Wow! I must say, preschool is good for surprises that I don't have to orchestrate.

Then...

Sunday morning Monkey1 came into mom & dad's room too early and tried to snuggle up with us, but she was restless. Usually she's pestering me, "Get UUUUPPPPP! I'm hungry!" but she said not a word.

"Is the night light off?" I asked. I have it on a timer, so that's the get-up time signal.

She disappeared.

Monkey2 came and climbed into mom and dad's bed.

Eventually Monkey1 came back.

"What do you want for breakfast?" I groaned. We could probably make it to the 7:30 AM Mass.

"No, you stay in bed Mommy! You get breakfast in bed!" and she tore downstairs.

Now I was WIDE awake.

"Where'd she get that idea?" I asked my husband.

"I don't know. School?"

We listened to noises coming from the kitchen. The bagels were on the counter. There was some cold cereal on the shelf. She could open the fridge. What would she make?

My husband went downstairs to check.

Monkey1 returned triumphantly, daddy carrying one of my casserole dishes as a tray, with a bowl of yogurt topped with granola and a hand-torn bagel with a tub of cream cheese and a butter knife.

Monkey2, still curled up in bed with me, saw this and started to howl. "No breakfast in bed! Food is at the TABLE!"

Daddy scooped her up and carried her off. Monkey1 stayed with me for a few moments, then returned downstairs. I had just learned from Monkey1 that her teacher had read the class a book last week about Mother's Day and breakfast in bed. Monkey1 had been planning this without a hint to me or her father. Pretty impressive for a five-year-old. Monkey1 returned with her own breakfast, pink yogurt.

When she was done, the surprises were not over, as she then collected all my bottles of nail polish and set up a fashion table, whereat I was treated to manicure and pedicure, with both Monkeys doing the painting before I made everyone put on church clothes.

My Monkeys have been so little for so long, but today I had a glimpse of something different... Happy Mother's Day.