FocusOnTheFamily

In mom's shoes

Written by Derrick and Renee Wilburn

“Oops,” two-year-old Conner whispered. I looked up from turning over the first pancake to see another blob of batter on the hardwood floor. How does my wife do this?

I had planned the perfect Mother’s Day for my wife to show her how proud I was of the awesome job she does. Our toddler kept her busy, so I figured the best present I could give her was a day off from household duties.

I enlisted our son’s help, hoping to teach him about serving and the meaning of Mother’s Day. It wasn’t long before I realized I would be the one learning the lesson.

My first mistake was allowing Conner to stir the pancake batter. In his zeal to pulverize all lumps in the bowl, he managed to drop blotches of sweet goo on the countertop and floor.

“Daddy, why’re the pancakes smoking?”

Determined to clean up the batter, which was quickly cementing itself to the floor, I had forgotten about the rest of the pancakes on the griddle.

“Do you think Mom will notice if we scrape the black part off?” I asked my assistant.

Before long, we headed upstairs with pancakes, sausage and juice. How my wife didn’t hear the racket or smell the charred food, I’ll never know.

Bursting through the bedroom door, Conner yelled, “Wake up, Mommy!” My wife’s eyes shot open – I hoped in surprise, and not alarm. He presented his mother with a red rose, and he proudly declared, “It’s Muver’s Day, and we made you bwekfess!”

After a round of hugs, she appreciatively began to eat. So far, so good, I thought. All I have to do is clean the kitchen before she finishes. I was only a few minutes into batter scraping when I heard her shuffle into the room.

“I thought I’d make some cof – Eeeeew! Yuck!” I looked down at her painted toenails poking through raw egg yolk. Oops! Forgot about that.

Suddenly, I felt tired. It was only 9 a.m., and we still had a full day ahead of honouring Mom.

Throughout the day, I repeatedly told my wife to relax because we had everything under control. I know she tried her best, but there were definitely moments when I sensed her stress level rise – especially when Conner helped me weed the garden and vacuum the carpet. He thought the weeds with the pink tops would look pretty in a vase and ripped them out of the ground; and he helped vacuum our beige carpet with his toy vacuum, which he had left in our muddy backyard overnight.

It wasn’t the perfect day I had planned, but I know my wife appreciated our efforts. In the end, Conner and I both learned valuable lessons. I realized not to rely on a two-year-old for household help; and as I tucked my son into bed that night, he shared what he learned: “It’s hard to do Mommy’s job.”

I couldn’t agree more.

From Focus on Your Child’s Early Stages, May 2007. Published by Focus on the Family*. © 2007 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission. *U.S.A.

Recommend this article...