Mothering Memories

It's Mother's Day once again. I've been thinking about some of my favorite memories of being mothered. The one I think about most often occurred several days after my first child was born. We were living in Fargo, ND at the time. When I got home from the hospital Mom came to stay with us for a week or so to help me out with the new baby. I had never so much as changed a diaper so I really needed the help! I was using cloth diapers (earth mother that I was), so it was extra complicated with the folding just right and not sticking the baby with the pins and all. Sam had developed jaundice after birth and needed to stay in the hospital for a few extra days. I was running to the hospital every few hours day and night to breast feed him. I don't really remember but I think I was most likely delirious with exhaustion. One particular afternoon after he was home Mom set up a reclining lawn chair outside under our apple tree (it was July) and suggested I take a nap while she cared for the baby. I fell into a deep, relaxing sleep. When I woke up there was a newspaper and a glass of ice cold lemonade with a chocolate brownie sitting on a plate beside my chair. I felt so loved and cared for. To this day, I don't recline in a lawn chair without thinking about that afternoon--the salty, sweetness of being a new mother and the surprise of myself being cared for.

Mom and me at a Mother's Day Tea on Saturday at the church we recently joined in Minot.