(I know this is a week overdue, but internet connection has been sketchy for a while… hoping that is resolved soon!  And besides, as Mansell said, “Mother’s Day should be every day!!” Smart kid!!  🙂   )

Happy Mother’s Day to all Moms! Hooray for Moms!

A new experience, this Mexican Mother’s Day. Unlike Canada/US, countries that celebrate Mother’s Day on the first Sunday in May, Mexican Mother’s Day is on a scheduled day, May 10, every year. So I got to celebrate two Mother’s Days this year! The kids and Aaron were very lovely about giving me such a nice day on Sunday, May 8, and then the school organized a special event for Mom’s on Tuesday morning. Aaron’s French company gave them the 10^th off instead of Cinqo de Mayo (still in a fit over being defeated by the Mexican’s during this battle at Puebla so many years ago, I guess! 🙂 ) so we drove the kids to school and I filed in to the school with all the other Mom’s to be honoured by our kids. Aaron waited for me in the parking lot, as the plan was to hang out in Santa Fe for the day at (you guessed it) the mall(!) and then pick up the kids at the end of the day. We had a few things to pick up and then would have lunch.

The kids were busy in their classes preparing for us and the staff were bustling about completing last minute tasks when I walked into the school foyer. It was so loud and busy and I was truly glad so many Mom’s could make it. I found my way to the office area to say “hola!” and then find my friend Ann. I was standing beside a large plant, texting to let her know I was here and vowing never to go early again to an event like this…

“Hey Ann, you here yet?”

“Hey Cory, just arrived”

“Ok, I’m standing beside a plant next to the office”

A few minutes go by and I find myself in an awkward hands-waving, arms flapping conversation (that I eventually piece together is about owing money to reserve our family spots at the graduation party) with a really great 5^th grade Mom who is organizing the Grade 5 graduation – but she speaks no English and I very little Spanish – when a buzz from my phone comes:

“Hey Cory, it’s Ann… I’m beside a plant too…”

I look around and then step forward and peek out from my plant to discover that Ann is on the other side of it! It’s a big plant! LOL! I am very happy to see her!

We are invited up the stairs by the Principal to our children’s classrooms – With two kids in Primary school, the suggested plan was to spend half an hour in one child’s class, then switch to the other. I started in Hudson’s class. They were adorable and buzzing with excitement as they waited for the Mom’s to file in and take a seat. Kids were standing in a horseshoe formation around the perimeter of the classroom, a desk in front of them with a down turned cup on the surface. I finally made the connection to Hudson’s intense interest in learning the “cup song” these past few weeks. Of course he couldn’t tell me why he needed to use Daddy’s wifi on his phone to watch the YouTube video to learn and practice the “moves” – it was a surprise for Mother’s Day! So the teacher starts the song, and I’m snapping a few pics and marveling at Hudson’s concentration for the task – he’s really determined to get this right… and I suddenly find myself reaching for the tissues I (thankfully!!) have in my purse. Have you ever really listened to the lyrics to “The Cup Song” in the context of Mother’s Day?

“… when I’m gone, when I’m gone… you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone… you’re gonna miss me by my walk, you’re gonna miss me by my talk, you’re gonna miss my by my hair… you’re gonna miss me everywhere… oh you’re sure gonna miss me when I’m gone…”

OH Wow!! Really??? … you get global in a moment like that and realize how fleeting this journey with your kids is and definitely, for sure I’m going to miss all of this, these moments when they are so darned cute and earnest about their love for their Mom’s… I’m definitely going to miss so many things when they are “gone” from home and on their own… I failed to see the fairness of this, on this day of all days!! However, I do understand why the teachers chose it as a performance to share – the kids LOVE the challenge of learning the cup choreography and it is a catchy tune that until this Mexican Mother’s Day, I had never really listened to before, and always sort of assumed the context to be of a relationship break-up… Another “out of left field” experience to add to the pile! I fight the tears and pull myself kicking and screaming back to the moment and enjoy a lovely visit with Hudson who presents me with a lovely handmade card and an origami folded pink tulip – so nice! We have our picture taken together by the teacher and then he guides me to the hall for a snack of coffee and yogurt and fruit – it’s very thoughtful and so appreciated, this effort the school made for us!  At the halfway mark on the hour, I give him another big hug and thank him again and let him know I will be going to his sister’s class now. He understands and he happily joins his friends for seconds at the food table. Caleigh’s class presentation is already in progress, so I sneak in and sit at an available seat in the back. They finish and Caleigh makes her way over to see me, but then remembers she has to collect her card and gift and heads back out the door… as she disappears, Hudson reappears, obviously distressed, and makes his way through the people and rows of chairs to me. He wants to go home. He doesn’t want to be at school anymore. He wants to go back to Canada… oh dear, what happened in the two minutes since I left him??… not great timing for sure… but when I think about it,  my presence there, at school, likely threw him off his game. He is used to steeling himself when he leaves in the morning to get through the day – he often feels worried with a sore tummy in the morning, but then once at school he seems to forget himself – his teachers report that he seems happy and is very social and is doing well academically (I’ve been gently digging to find out how things are really going as I’ve been worried that he seems to frequently report back to us at home that he is not happy about going to school…) He really wanted to come home with us. My heart was breaking as I insisted that he stay at school – it is his job and he needs to be there to do some more good learning. And if we let him come with us, we would set a precedent and it would become harder and harder to get him to school each day. He needed to stay to know that he could do it and that he would be okay. He needed to see that there are many caring people who work with him daily at school who would help him out by keeping with the routine and getting him busy with learning. We are in the business of resiliency training and acquisition right now. And thankfully Aaron came in to hang out with all the Mom’s to help with Hudson so that I could go back to have special time with Caleigh, who was very understanding and concerned for her brother. I guess it’s these moments too, not just the neat adventures, that are cementing our bond as a family. At the end of the day Hudson reported that it had been an “awesome” day. And after all that emotional turmoil – I left the building that morning and cried and cried in the van in the parking lot. Thank you Mexican Mother’s Day for the repeat experience of these motherhood highs and lows, all in the span of one hour!

As the day progressed – and I’m pleased to report that my time with Aaron was considerably less emotional! – we realized just how big a deal Mother’s Day is here. It’s like everyone took an unofficial official day off to be with their Mom’s. The mall was packed, restaurants were packed. Traffic was horrendous with added police presence to try to keeping it flowing. Even the mall at the centre court had set up a stage for an Elvis impersonator to serenade all the Mom’s. We discovered the rockin’ performance on our way out of the mall to get the kids, so couldn’t stay to watch for long, but was able to snap a pic. That was hilarious!!

Thank you to all Mom’s for your tireless effort everyday. This might be one of the toughest jobs in the whole world with no manual, no how-to, only intuition and heart to guide us.