Daughter's Helper

So, it doesn't look like I've told you lately just how great my mom is. Let's remedy that.

When I went into the hospital, I called Mom and let her know what was going on, and she immediately volunteered to come out and help us out at home. I figured I'd be able to go home and pretty much go back to my normal life, so I told her I thought we'd be OK. Then, when I found out I was going to have to be on bed rest -- a few hours before being discharged from the hospital -- I called Mom back and asked, "So.... want to come over?" Turns out her offer was still good, and we got her a ticket for the next night.

And then began the helping. Oh, the helping. I would have been satisfied if she had just made sure Soren didn't starve or scream all day, but Mom went above and beyond. She got him dressed! Entertained him! Took him for walks! Dealt with his new whiny phase! Didn't make fun of me for taking four-hour naps an hour after getting up in the morning! Superwoman stuff. PLUS she put up some cool fall/Halloween decorations around the house, cooked delicious dinners, had Chris's gin & tonics ready when he got home from work.... actually, you know, all that stuff primarily made me look bad, so maybe I'm not so thankful for that. Kidding!

And throughout it all, she was good company. We got to play lots of Scrabble, and she let me win 99% of the time, which was really nice of her. She smuggled me out to Starbucks on my third day of bed rest, which was good for my sanity (don't worry, I sat slumped in a comfy chair the whole time we were out, so it was just like bed rest, only in a Starbucks). She taught me how to crochet, and we sat around making circles of various sizes for a few days (hers turned into cool skater hats; mine turned into... misshapen circles). Sure, lying around all day wasn't a barrel of fun, but getting to hang out with Mom made it much more enjoyable.

Mom, you turned what could have been a really stressful week into a fun visit -- thanks so much. We all love you!