The ideas, the possibilities, the plans began swirling in my head. I like a grand plan. Food, drinks, gift bags, music…I would invite the whole neighborhood and all the preschool moms! I would invite the teachers and tell everyone to bring a friend! It would be epic! I would pull out my vintage punch bowl and use all the serving dishes stowed in my dining room! I was hosting a Mother’s Day Eve event for Mamalode and this was my chance to share about myself, my writing and what Mamalode is and means to me. I’d open up my home and my heart. I’d connect women and make new friends.
Fast forward to many emails sent back and forth, dates changed, suggestions made. I needed to get real. No one could make the actual night before Mother’s Day. In fact, not many people could make it at all. Life lesson # 3,042: who cares-do it anyway. I needed to reconcile my imagination and reality. Life is busy. People, moms in particular are crazy busy. Life is played on the fast forward button. I love the saying, “Let’s stop the glorification of busy.”
Part of me wanted to cancel the whole thing. But a few nights before Mother’s Day I picked up a few neighborhood girlfriends and we went bowling. We ate dinner and had a few cocktails first. And in that time that we sat at dinner sharing and catching up, I realized that I need more of this in my life. More time to reconnect with myself and realize I’m not the only one sick of driving kids around to after school activities, sitting in the parent-pick up line for what seems like hours per week. That even though we love our children, cherish these fleeting moments with small children, we still have dreams. We still have stuff we want to accomplish. That little golden nugget of a dream that resides deep down in the pit of my heart becomes visible when in the company of good women.
My girlfriend admitted she is at a crossroads. Maybe, just maybe, she might want to go back to school for nursing. What? We’ve never heard this before! Yes, Yes! Tell me more! And I’ll tell you that I still break down once or twice a week when I miss my Mom. And you’ll tell me that your Etsy shop gives you so much joy that you are setting new goals for yourself, expanding what you thought was possible.
That’s the thing: there is so much more possible and when we check in with one another, share our stories, our sadness and triumphs beyond our children, magic happens. We walk away feeling refreshed, happy to remember we aren’t alone. That’s what Mother’s Day Eve is all about. Four hundred people or four people, it doesn’t matter. The connection is what counts.
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