Community Voices for Health

By: Sheila Gaudet

One of the highlights of Mother’s Day every year is seeing what creative things their teachers have helped them come up with as a gift.  With two kids now “aging” out of the projects that include finger prints crafted into flowers and snowmen,  it can get interesting.  This year was no different.

Andrew, my third-grader, came home with a bookmark with his photograph on one slide and a hand-drawn picture of an elephant (which I collect) and a “Laughing Buddha” (which just generally makes me happy) on the back.  I also received a card with a poem inside.  I thought I would share below:

Happy Mother’s Day – From Andrew

My Mom has eyes in the back of her head,

So she can see when I throw a rock at my brother’s head.

Her homemade cookies are so yummy,

I eat and I eat them til I fill my tummy.

She’s very, very kind.

She’s one of a kind.

She likes to watch cop shows where people go to jail.

She know I’m sick when I’m really pale.

Her birthday’s in January, just like me.

She tried really hard just to have me!

It cracked me up.  As far as I know, there is no rock throwing going on, apparently my “Law & Order” addiction has been noticed and maybe there has been too much discussion of secondary infertility in the house.

Not one to be outdone, my older son Anthony also used his creativity for my gift.  Rather than a drawing or poem though, this year I awoke to a Powerpoint presentation.  We have had a rough year and things have not always gone smoothly between us.  His freshman year has been challenging as he navigates the transition from childhood toward adulthood and the repercussions for poor choices become more significant.  On my side, letting him make his own mistakes and suffer the consequences goes against all those years spent “mothering” a younger child.  I absolutely believe that this “letting go” process is as much a part of being a mother as changing diapers, but it doesn’t make it any easier to watch them take a rocky path at times.

Anthony’s presentation (complete with clip art and animation), was titled “Why I Love You.”  I’m including the first page below:

• You have always been there for me
• I can trust you
• You take care of me
• You believe in me
• You support me
• And I could go on forever
• Without you, I don’t know where I’d be
• You are my mom, my only one, and I sometimes take that for granted.

There were a couple other slides that are too personal for me to share here.  Parenting a teenager sometimes feels like you are howling at the moon.  You don’t know if you are being heard and often feel unappreciated.  When they make mistakes, it is easy to question whether all the effort you put in was worth it.  Anthony’s gift to me this year was reassurance.  While he is still going to make choices I disagree with, apparently he does know how much I love him and feels he can trust me.  That is truly a gift from a teenager.