An Open Apology to My Mom

Dear Mom,

Today I saw a friend on Facebook who had made an Octopus out of a hotdog for her 3 year old son's lunch. She clearly did this with excitement and creativity in her heart. His response was, "I don't want to eat an OCTOPUS!" And this immediately brought to mind for me St. Patrick's Day circa 1987.

I vividly remember that on this St. Patrick's Day you had the creative idea to make our entire dinner (or at least as much of it as you could) green. I remember there being green mashed potatoes, and green lemonade to drink, and something for dessert, perhaps a cake, that was also green. I remember you telling us there was a surprise involved in dinner and I can still hear the excitement in your voice. I remember John, Mark, and I walking into the kitchen, seeing the spread of green foods, and all of us saying, "Eeeww! It's green!" I remember you laughing, but now, I suspect you wanted to cry!

As a Mom, I can now fully understand the effort and love that went into this meal, and the let down you must have felt when your three charming children were less than appreciative of your efforts. Given that I so vividly remember this day, I suspect I felt a tinge of guilt at the time. But I didn't understand it on the same level that I can now. As parents we go to great efforts to do fun things that we think our kids will enjoy. We plan outings, we spend money on tickets and classes, and we make creative meals. Sometimes it goes over with great joy, and other times, well, it falls flatter than flat. I know this kind of frustration now, as a Mom. Like when Matt and I were all excited to take Ryan to the Aquarium for the first time. And he was far more excited by the elevators and escalators than any of the fish, dolphins or sharks. We could have gone to Kohl's and rode the elevators/escalators and he would have been just as pleased.

So, Mom, this is an apology for all the times you and Dad went to great efforts for us as kids, and your efforts were not greeted with adequate levels of excitement and/or appreciation. I hope you know how very much your efforts then and now are so very, very appreciated. And I hope the joy we all experience in regards to the AMAZING St. Patrick's Day feast you serve every year can make up for our less than enthusiastic response to your efforts circa 1987.


Love,

Your humbly grateful daughter, Kristen