Monday, May 14, 2012

Rants and Revelings


Although I like Mothers' Day a lot more than I used to, I still feel some anxiety every year as it rolls around.  Here are my qualms:

-Lots of us are not moms and want to be, whether it is due to infertility, lack of a marriage in the first place, crummy situations that have required the placement of a child with a different family, or the death of a child, etc.
-Most of us (think we) are not THE moms we want to be, whether it is due to the tendency women have to feel inadequate (I doubt fathers' day creates similar feelings for as many of its celebrated population...I may be wrong), or our IDEAS of how our life as a mom is supposed to be has not been realized (naughty children, surprise circumstances, etc.), etc.
-I get kind of bored listening to the endless qualities and influences of that Sunday's speakers' moms (because whether we have an angel of a mom or not, no one would say anything otherwise)
-I worry about whether our moms feel how much we REALLY do love and appreciate them.  This sort of day always makes for lots of flowery words that still seem under-stated.
-I fret over what our girls' birth-moms are thinking & feeling    

Now that I'm finished revealing my Scroogy attitude (with the exception of Fathers' Day, I really do like all other holidays), here is the part that I like about Mothers' Day:

David traditionally picks me flowers from "an obliging field,"

and makes me his fabulous Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes:

combine...
3 cups whole wheat flour
6 t baking powder
6 t sugar (or other sweetener...we've been using stevia in a smaller quantity)
1 1/2 t salt
3/4 t baking soda

& in a separate bowl, whisk together...
3 eggs
3 c buttermilk
2/3 cups oil

Fold wet & dry ingredients together & you've got the batter!
*This will feed 4 hungry people, 
but easy to adjust the measurements since they are multiples of three*

And obviously, this:

Holidays are excuses for more major calorie splurges (in addition to the pancakes), like Jamie Oliver's Shortbread.  As I was making it, I realized that it's actually buttercream frosting with some white-flour and cornstarch.  I substituted the white with some more fibrous flour to take the edge off.  I'm sure it made a difference.

...And the spring-time weather that comes with Mothers' Day 
which allows a girl to test her new trekking poles:

1 comment:

ashley said...

As far as I can tell Ash, you are an amazing mama. None of us are perfect....but it looks to me that you come close. And as far as birth mamas go....I can't speak for all of us, yes it's an incredibly tough day, but I still always feel a sence of pride knowing that I did what was best for my child out of pure love. And really that's what a good mama does...so on Mother's day I always feel that. Of course a card, email, or call from Seth's parents always helps as well.