Tale of The Perfect Mother’s Day

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Mother’s Day morning. I didn’t sleep in. As a matter of fact, as strange as it may be, I actually ended up waking up earlier than ever, before anyone – even the kids. Because the kids have a habit of invading our bed in the wee hours of the morning, we were all curled up together on their queen size bed, warm and deep in sleep.

But I couldn’t sleep anymore. So at 6:30 I was up. I like the time of silence and of just being able to think alone for a bit. It’s a great way to start the day, not that I am much of an early morning person.

After letting them sleep for awhile, I got them all up, in motherly fashion, to get ready to head out to Central Park. Today was the day I would be participating in R Baby Foundation’s Run/Walk to help raise money for newborn babies who need special medical care during those first crucial months of life.

Sounded to me like a perfect cause for a perfect day. I had been fortunate to not have ever experienced the sadness of needing such help herself for her children and was more than happy to help other families that did.

We made it to the park just in time for me to line up for the 1.3 mile Health Walk. The day was sunny, but windy and a bit chilly, beautiful nevertheless. Hubby took the kids to one of the playgrounds in the park while I did my walk. At first, in seeing the crowds of families and mother’s with their husbands and little ones, I wished I had brought my family to join me. But shortly after starting the walk I began power walking and pushed myself to the fastest walk I’ve done, helping me complete it in 20 minutes! The crowds at the end of the line were great too, cheering everyone on and congratulating them for the finish.

After meeting up with some friends for a quick hello, I made my way through Central Park to meet the family. I walked by some of my favorite spots in the park, still empty due to the fact that it was early.  Even The Boathouse was still setting up for the Mother’s Day patrons lining up outside.

The paths inside of Central Park that lead to different sections and cross town, can be convoluted and many. It seemed like miles before I was able to reach my family on the other side of town, but it was a beautiful, peaceful walk through the park, one I recommends to everyone. (You shouldn’t be nervous to take the many paths through the park for a morning or afternoon stroll-as long as it’s not dark out-they all lead to an open, populated space, and there are plenty of security personnel, as well as other walkers and runners along the way.)

After spending the morning at the park we decided to avoid the many long lines that we would surely find with crowds looking for brunch. So we headed out of the city to a little town called Maplewood in New Jersey.

Maplewood is about a 30 minute drive out of the city. It’s quiet and quaint and I love it there. We often come here to visit when we just need to slow down for a couple of hours, and should I ever leave my beloved city, this is where I would move to.

We stopped at our favorite local diner, the Maple Leaf Diner. The diner was full of families with little ones, and hubby and I felt immediately at ease: no stress, no worries. We got their orders right away.

After brunch, we took a stroll around town, stopping to window shop and browse in the small shops found along the main street, all before walking to the local playground so that the kids could run around a bit.

Boys had a lot of fun at the small playground and I had a chance to talk to other local moms about Mother’s Day, the neighborhood.

Before leaving we headed over to the local ice cream shop and got the boys a small treat. We ate it outside the shop which was full with little kids and parents ordering their cold treat. I met a nice couple and their baby and we chatted for a while before having to head back to the city.

It was a pretty perfect Mother’s Day. By the time we got back into the city, the boys had fallen asleep in the car, and the traffic over the George Washington Bridge was beginning to get ugly but I enjoyed every second from beginning to end. Hubby ended the day by making me a special dinner and treating me to a few more hours of “do nothing”. I am grateful for him, who is so loving and considerate and for my beautiful children who have honored me with this role.

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