Though His 7-Year-Old Eyes

That's me, as crafted by Nicky.

I have to admit -- when Christmas and Mother's Day roll around, my very favorite gifts are the ones the kids make at school.

The ornaments with a photo glued onto a round frozen juice lid, adorned in beads or colored macaroni -- I love it. The baby food jar with the tissue paper pieces glued on and a tealight candle plopped inside -- I'm all over it. The handmade cards and pictures ... I eat it all up. And I know lots of other moms do, too. In fact each year on my parents' Christmas tree, I search and always find it: the cute angel ornament crafted out of a pink paper plate and adorned with glitter and felt that I made in kindergarden. So this Mother's Day Nicky, in all of his 2nd-grade glory, presented me with an essay. These are always fun, too. I remember when the boys were in kindergarden, they created a story where they filled in the blanks, which were facts about mom. It was always hilarious to read these -- kind of Mom Mad Libs. Like Mom weighs 20 pounds and while I'm at school Mom's favorite things to do are go skydiving and fold laundry. Anyway, it's always good to know how your 7-year-old sees you. Here goes:
My mom is as pretty as a butterfly (I have a sneaking suspicion that the three other kids in his group might have said something similar. Reminds me of the time that Nick came home and I asked him how he did on his spelling test. "Good. I think I got them all right because I wrote down the two hardest words on my leg underneath my shorts," he told me matter-of-factly. A discussion about cheating immediately followed, but I still smile every time I think about how easily his confession spilled forth.)
My mom has gold and silver hair (blond highlights and an increasing number of grey roots ... sigh)
She is rich (Brett said it's because Nick sees me spending all the money :)).
She likes to wear running clothes. (I don't know if like is the correct word, but most mornings I put on my running clothes because that's what I do after he and Blake leave for school).
My mom makes sure we do our chores (I finally got wise to the chores game. They had been doing close to nothing until a couple months ago when they started dusting vacuuming and cleaning bathrooms. Who needs a housecleaner when you have kids who want allowance?)
I think she's the best at cooking. My mom makes good tacos (I'm a master when it comes to sloppy joes, spaghetti and hamburgers, too. If I cooked more chicken a la king, shrimp stir-fry, and other adult fare more often, I'm confident I'd lose my "best at cooking" title.)
My mom likes to go on cruises (never been on one in my life).
For fun my mom likes to play games (the most popular "How many times do I have to ask my child to make his bed and brush his teeth before it actually gets done?" game and "How do we get two kids to soccer practice, eat dinner, do homework and give baths" challenge).
My mom has a pretty smile (he's so sweet sometimes).
I make her smile by me smiling without my two top teeth. (This is true -- he's so darn cute with those two missing front teeth).
My mom is smart. She even knows what 1,000 times 1,000 is. (It's true, I was a math wiz as a kid ... but I went into writing).
My mom is special because she is good at running (gosh, what if I hadn't taken up running -- my mom is special because she is good at folding clothes???)
I love her 100 percent (the best gift of all).

Mother's Day 2008
I love you, Nicky!