Happy Mother's day

Children can be a handful creating mischief and running around doing some unusual things. Behind the scenes there are mothers making sure those children are safe and many times cleaning up after their messes.

My children are both very creative at making a mess. This is especially true on early Saturday morning. I like to sleep in on Saturdays but when kids are little they never sleep in on Saturdays. I tried to make everything in the house child proof by putting safety locks on the cabinets and doors. But I woke up to the clanging of a Caribbean steel drum.

At that time my son was 18 months old. When I got up there in the middle of the kitchen was my little one with his clothes off and all the pots and pans set around him. He had taking out the pots and pans and set them up as a drum set. He was singing and banging on the drums so loud he woke me and my wife. I wanted to spank him, but my wife said, "Look at my son. He is such a good drummer and she hugged him."

He loved noise. He had a little fork crane riding toy that he would ride on the patio. It made noise every time he rode it. One day he took it outside to the street where it made a lot more noise. I was enjoying my coffee when I realized he was not there and then I heard a thunder like roaring down the street. Everyone in the neighborhood could hear it. I wanted to just ignore it but my wife told me to check on him. We live at the top of a huge hill and at the bottom is a retired English professor. When I looked out our balcony I saw the English Professor outside talking to our boy say, "Why you make a fine racer. But a race car driver needs a helmet." I asked my son to apologize but the professor says, "There is no need to apologize for science must run its course." When I brought him home I thought his mom would scold him, but she hugged him and instead scolded me saying, "How could you let him go outside without his helmet?"

My youngest is artist and likes to experiment with colors and mediums. His favorite medium is walls and he has come to enjoy the bathroom walls and fixtures. He doesn't use ordinary paints. He usually finds his art supplies from under the kitchen cabinet and refrigerator and bathroom cabinets and mixes them together.

One day I came home from work and the house smelled really bad. We usually keep kimchi in the house so I'm used to bad smells, but this smelled different. I looked in the bathroom and there my youngest son was at the bathroom sink. He couldn't reach it so he used a booster chair under it and was standing on the booster chair. His hair was blue and there were bubbles in the whole room. He had put a plug in the bathroom sink and filled it with everything he could find. He mixed body wash with vinegar and some cleaning solution similar to baking soda and added his blue paints until it had bubbled and over flowered. The point I came into the bathroom room he had painted himself and was now painting the walls. Everything looked amazingly beautiful like a cobalt cavern but the bubbles were slippery and it smelled terrible and our bathroom towels would need to be washed again. I let him play for a little bit and looked for his mom. She was in the kitchen and said, "Isn't our son cute?"

As a child I was ten times the trouble maker our kids are but my mom always welcomed me and comforted me. I'm really thankful for my mom. When I see my wife I know it is because of her love and patience that my kids are growing into the great men that they are destined to become. I'm really thankful for her and wish her the best Mother's Day.

Some Music For Mother's Day

Mama Said - The Shirelles

Because You Loved Me - Celine Dion

This story is written from a daddy to honor the heart of my children's mom.