The Vincent Triplets: Multiples Moms Mother's Day: Adjusting Perfect

You might notice this is written the day AFTER Mother's Day. The plan was to get it written ON Mother's Day but, well, life got in the way. That's just Exhibit A in how the definition of perfection gets adjusted when you have triplets. That are two.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day, but it wasn't the one I planned. If you've missed it, I'm a planner. I'm pretty sure that's why God sent me triplets. To help me let go a little bit. I realize that He's in control, but sometimes that is hard for me to swallow. So I have three two year olds that remind me that I am not even remotely in control of anything in my life right now.

My kids are at the germ-breeding-factories stage. This results, often, in one or all of them becoming sick when I have something "planned." Holidays, parties, play dates, or say Mother's Day...........sick hits. (Christmas was just one of the many examples.)

They have all had coughs, which I chalk up to living in Houston in the spring, but after a couple weeks the baby developed a fever on Friday. The eldest followed with a fever on Saturday that he is still battling (so I took the morning off for a doctor's visit). As a result of the fever, or a very vivid nightmare, we were up all Saturday night with the sweet boy because he was convinced a cat was biting him. He was terrified. Never had I seen him so worked up. Even after taking medicine and drinking Pedialite and turning on the light to make sure he was awake, we could not shake him of his terrors.

So Sunday morning, aside from getting a late start, the family outing to church was cancelled because we couldn't take kids with fevers to Sunday School. I was disappointed because our new interim pastor started, but I was also too exhausted to get it together to get dressed in time when Bray offered to stay home with the kids so I could go. It all worked out though. Bray made a big pot of coffee which we drank leisurely while letting the kids hang out in the play room. Since no one had a fever by lunch time, we went ahead and kept our reservations for Mother's Day lunch with my mom. It turned out to be an absolutely delicious brunch, and the kids were perfectly behaved and the conversation was fun. We all five enjoyed a long nap in Sunday afternoon, a huge gift since naps have been hit or miss lately. Bray largely entertained the kids after nap time so I could reorganize their playroom. That sounds mundane, but I felt like a NEW woman afterwards because their playroom was caving in on me. And despite my no gift rule, my darling husband gave me a gift certificate to my favorite spa in addition to my Mother's Day card.

It was in fact a mother's day. Plans askew. Messes laying about. Exhaustion setting in. Yet, it was countered by the new plans being such fun, the messes getting cleaned, and restful times dropped in for good measure. Yesterday was still perfect. It's just adjusting what "perfect" looks like. I am thankful for this time in my life when I spend Mother's Day both with my mother and with my children. I know these times are growing shorter, for those of us that spent more than the first third of our lives single, and so I loved being able to be with my mom and to be a mom. I have no shortage of gratitude, or appreciation, for the gift that is.