Frankie says "Relax."

My MIL sent me a Mothers' Day card. That was actually a very nice gesture. The choice of cards, though, makes me scratch my head.

See, I've been bummed about Mothers' Day. It's just going to be another day. The kids are too young to realize (without prompting) that they should do/say/make something special. So basically, the day won't exist for me.

Let me go off on a brief tangent: for that reason, I was really excited to see my friends had thrown a surprise Mothers' Day party for me earlier in the week. I figured something was up because someone had mentioned wanting to do something, but I had no idea they were going with the Mothers' Day theme. So I was thrilled to have that for the occasion.

In all honesty, that was probably the nicest Mothers' Day gift I've ever gotten . Well, wait, second nicest. When the girls were just a few days old and in the NICU, one of the nurses gave all the moms a Mothers' Day poem with each baby's foot prints on it. But this was a very close second. I may even consider it a tie (hey, the party came with coffee. That's something the NICU nurses overlooked).

But now the actual day is coming up and on that day, we may wind up not doing anything special at all (and I've had a rotten day, so something special would be very welcome).

Getting back to that card. It had a picture of a woman lounging on the front and said something like, "Enjoy a day that's all about you." Then inside it had a message about how I'll get to relax.

WHAT ON EARTH? Relax? How am I supposed to relax? I can't even get much sleep. Trying to take a shower in the morning with these three kids is like juggling 12 rubber balls each coated with oil while standing under a water fall. I'd love to add "Relax" to my list of things to do, but I'm afraid that after things like "Keep all three children alive," "Buy more Tylenol," "Clean out litter boxes," and "Search for a gas station with prices that won't make me cry," there simply won't be enough room for "Relax." Even if I could manage to shove it on my list, I highly doubt I could get all three children (and both cats) to add, "Let mom relax," to their lists too. And let's face it, I could have "Clean house until it's sparkling, make gourmet dinner, and spend two hours leisurely window shopping" on my list, but if it's not on the kids' lists too, there's no way in hell (Sorry, D) it's gonna happen.

That card wound up making me mad because it reminded me that there will be no relaxing at all. It won't be a day dedicated to mothers. It will be a day dedicated to keeping the girls from stealing each other's Polly Pockets and trying to cook a meal without the boy busting into screams the minute I put him down.

I really do appreciate the fact that they thought of me. I'm just a bit baffled by their choice of sentiments.