This Easter, I was a bunny, a cow, an old woman, a nostalgia food maker, an adventurer, a player of games, and a mom.
I made Easter baskets for my boys -- all of them, and pretended I was the Easter bunny.
I plotted with my stepson and we snuck into my soon-to-be-husband's room and woke him up by making very realistic cow noises at him.
I found my first white hair. It's kind of a relief that I'm not going to be grey. It was long and beautiful, but it made me kind of wistful and almost sad.
I made my family Jello, like my mom used to. The kids hated it. They also hate PB&J sandwiches. They adore calamari. They never cease to amaze me with what they will and won't eat.
I went on an adventure. I had a nine-year-old knight with a machete hack a path through the thorns in the woods for me. There were fallen logs and tiny bogs lots of mud. He did a very good job of picking a path. He was definitely empowered by being in charge and got great enjoyment of slashing. He has a box full of swords. It's clear that all that air practice has transferred into useful skills.
We played a game. I came in dead last. In a way, it was kind of nice.
And I realized that moms are really, really important.
I am grateful for my family -- for the family I was born into, for the friends who are now like family, for the family of friends who feel like family, too, and for the family I will marry into. We have our problems, and there are some days where I feel sad that we are not as close as I would like to be. But we also have love - lots of it! And goodwill, and hope. I am hoping that in my 31st year I can become closer to each member of my family -- both those of blood and "by love," as my younger stepson would say.
