The Best Laid Plans……

Mother’s Day….

I was presented the night before with the itinerary….

Which was scary and exciting all at the same time.

Anyone who knows us, and been on the receiving end of any of my “J never pays attention to my special days” rants, while I knashed my teeth and tore my clothes year after year, will remember, J is not well known for being a “plan a head make the day special” kind of husband. I have spent many a birthday and Mother’s Day wishing for more, sometimes even just wishing for a card or my flowers before 8 pm…..

A few years ago I took matters into my own hands and decided that I would plan my own days, and we spent time hiking or going to the zoo on these days, because that is what *I* wanted to torture my family  do.

This year, we had already been to the zoo, and the weather did not look good for hiking, so J let me know that he had planned the day.

What?

really? Awesome.

All I really honestly asked for was that I not be expected to cook.

That’s all. I cook every other day of the year, so on Mother’s Day and my birthday I would rather not.

Then I got the itinerary.. ….

So we headed off – on the road on time…..

and I still didn’t know where we were going except that K was excited,

then J informed me we were heading to Hamburg….it dawned on me…..

He is taking us to Cracker Barrel.

at 10 am on, not only a Sunday morning,

But Mother’s Day morning.

God bless his heart, he really did want to do something different. Really he did.

First of all, Cracker Barrel is not one of my favorite places to eat, but I was willing to suck it up because I knew the kids liked it, but also since losing my mom, as childish as it seems, I still have difficulty with doing the things she liked to do on Mother’s Day. Being the ultimate planner that she was, this usually involved a breakfast buffet at a restaurant or the country club,  or dinner, WHERE WE HAD RESERVATIONS, please remember that for later in our day…..

But,

it dawned on me as we drove in the packed parking lot, was that a room full of multigenerational families enjoying their Mother’s Day as they well should, would be awaiting me and the scene just still really honestly makes my heart hurt way too much.

And to top it off,

J was SHOCKED that it could possibly be so full, and the wait was 90 minutes.

I was trying at that point to remain calm and decide ifh is naivety was endearing or annoying…I just could not fathom how a man could reach the age of 44 years old and be SURPRISED that a restaurant could be crowded on Mother’s Day! I decided, at that moment on annoying, and had a melt down right then and there. There was no way I could suck it up when facing me was literally a general store of wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder people where we would stand for nearly two hours to subject me to reminders around every corner of an empty hole in my heart.

I melted down.

And then apologized for it. I was trying so hard to remember that he WAS TRYING my nerves, but he  really trying to  make my day something different……so out of his comfort zone…….and he said he understood but I am not sure he did…..

Where did we wind up?

Which was perfectly ok with me!

It is “our” thing, it is what “we” do when we travel for the day.It is “our” tradition, not my mom’s.

See why it doesn’t bother me?

So after a really embarrassing delightful breakfast where the conversation between teenagers and daddy revolved around butts and other such entertaining subjects…..but I really do smile inside and out when I listen to the conversations they have…..

Breakfast was x’d off the list..all be it, not the intended destination……

Our next stop involved this…..

My first thought was, dear Lord, seriously????

 

To be continued………