Holidays are full of expectations, Mother’s Day included.

Over the years, I’ve learned the hard way that it helps to pay attention to my expectations before the actual day arrives and try to line them up with reality as much as possible.  That way I’m not disappointed and the day goes smoothly, even if things don’t go exactly the way I was expecting them to.

Like it or not, embedded within our hearts are certain expectations that we, as mothers, will feel honored.  Appreciated.  Given time off to take a nap, get dressed for church or lunch at a leisurely pace, avoid any and all food prep at any cost, and given a gift that is handmade or homemade from our kids and appropriately thoughtful and economical from our husbands.  Something not too extravagant but not too cheap either.  I’m just saying.  Like it or not, these expectations are what’s in our heads, even if we know how slim the possibilities are that any of the above will actually occur.

I’ve learned over the past twelve years on Mother’s Day that life with kids is still life with kids, no matter what day on the calendar it is or what kind of expectations the day holds.

The reality of getting four girls (five, including myself) dressed, fed, ready for church and out the door by 9am on Sunday morning is simply summed up in one phrase: damage control.  Someone will stand in the bathroom crying about her hair, someone will stand in front of her closet upset about her dress, and someone will scramble in the car missing a shoe.  This is what happens on Sunday mornings.

Food prep in the kitchen will most definitely occur because let’s face it: feeding four kids who need to eat three times a day (can’t they ever just skip a meal every now and again?) is easier to do within the confines of your own home than out in a restaurant.

And the chance of getting to take a nap is 50/50.  If my daughter wins her softball game and is still in the playoffs come Sunday, she will have an hour and a half of practice.  There goes my nap.  (Is it terrible to say I wouldn’t be too sad if they lost, and we were done for the season sooner rather than later?  She is only seven…)

And let’s talk about another expectation for a moment: in Houston, where I live, embedded within church culture is the expectation that all mothers and daughters should look especially pretty on Mother’s Day.  Your dresses need to color coordinate.  In fact, let’s back up.  Everyone should have on a dress, your hair should look especially non-greasy, your makeup should be done, and a pretty, relaxed, happy smile should be on your face when you walk in the church doors.  Oh, and you should be holding the hand of at least one of your children.

Listen, some of my girls are in full-blown adolescence.  There will be no hand holding walking into church.  Someone will be mad at someone else, someone will hate their dress, and someone’s hair will not be doing what it should be doing.  There will be tears.  There will be pouts.  There will be all kinds of “I’m not walking with you, mom; I’m walking behind you” business going on this coming Sunday morning.

And somehow, the cute, spring dress I bought several months ago in anticipation of the expectations of this day will just not look as cute on my body as it did on the hangar.  I know this from experience.  My husband is a wonderful man.  In fact, he does a fabulous job of filling my cup by letting me know how pretty I look in his eyes on a regular basis.

But last year on Mother’s Day, he made the mistake of telling me that my dress looked like a bathing suit coverup as we were heading into lunch with his family.  A bathing suit coverup.  On Mother’s Day.

No sir.

I think it’s taken a year’s worth of “You look really pretty, babe” compliments to get him over that one.

And let’s finish talking about expectations by talking about gifts.

Men, I mean this.  I really mean this.  Whatever card or gift or homemade creation you hand your wife on Mother’s Day simply needs to reflect that you thought about it.  In advance.  Meaning, for more than a panicked few minutes before the gift-handing-over moment.  As moms, we care more about the thought behind the gift than the actual gift itself.

My favorite gift-giving expectation from Mother’s Day happened five years ago.

Several months before Mother’s Day, I started dropping hints, laying the groundwork, prepping the soil of my husband’s heart, if you will, that I wanted…an iPad.  I know, I know.  It was a big ask.  And I was fairly certain the heart of my husband was not going to be moved in the general direction of an iPad when what he had in mind was probably a gift certificate for a new pair of workout pants.

But it was worth a try.

I even enlisted my sister-in-law, Cara, who is the master of persuasion, to help me in my cause.  And even she failed.  Something she was not too happy about.

Mother’s Day morning came, and went, and no iPad.  Flowers, yes.  A card, yes.  A smaller, more appropriate token of his affection, yes.  But not an iPad.

But then came Mother’s Day evening.

His family had come over for dinner, and at the end of the evening, we were in our driveway walking everyone to their cars when Jason noticed our cat pawing at something in the street.  He walked over to check it out, bent down, and came up holding…a snake.  A twelve inch long twisting, wriggling, curling around his arm snake.

And out of nowhere, Cara, Jason’s sister, said, “I dare you to eat that snake.”

Now I think it would be entirely appropriate to pause here for a moment and ask, “What kind of a person sees another person holding a snake and immediately thinks, ‘I should ask that person to eat that snake’?”  Probably a person who grew up as the only girl in a household with three brothers.  But even then, her question gives me pause about a whole lot of things concerning my sister-in-law.

And as quick as lightening, Jason came back with, “I’ll eat it.  But only if you buy me an iPad.”

“Done,” Cara said.

And in that moment, time froze.  The ten of us standing in the driveway stood there with our mouths hanging open as Jason opened his mouth and then shoved that whole writhing snake inside.

Children started crying.  My girls were screaming because they thought their daddy was going to die from eating that snake.  Cara’s children were crying because they thought they were going to have to give Uncle Jason their iPad.  My mother-in-law who thought she had seen it all in raising four children stood there with her mouth hanging open, cleaned out banana pudding dish in her hand, watching her son in horrible fascination.  Even neighbors turned on their lights, opened their shutters, and came outside to see the cause of the hubbub we were all making.

And through it all, Jason chewed that snake.  And chewed.  And chewed.  And chewed.  He stood there for five minutes chewing that twelve inch long, wriggling thing with his sister beside him the whole time saying, “Open your mouth.  Let me see.  Nope.  It’s still not all down.  I said all of it.”

And every last bit of that snake disappeared into his mouth down into his stomach.  I didn’t kiss the man for a week.  But guess what I got for Mother’s Day?…an iPad.  Thank you, Cara.  Thank you, Jason.  And thank you, Mr. Snake.

So, like I said, Mother’s Day is full of expectations.  Some of them don’t always turn out the way you think they will.  Sometimes you get the gift you want; sometimes you don’t.  Sometimes you look cute in the dress you bought; sometimes you don’t.  Sometimes your kids behave and hold your hand walking into church; sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes your husband eats a snake; sometimes he doesn’t.

But no matter what happens this Mother’s Day, I want to remember is this: expectations are fine to have, but real joy, real life happens in the mess.  It happens in the car-crying moments and in the snake-eating moments.  It happens in the gift-giving moments or the not so great-gift giving moments.  It happens if I get a nap in or struggle on through the afternoon.

Because Mothers’ Day isn’t so much about being celebrated as a mother as celebrating those around me who make life sweet, children or no children.  iPad or no iPad.  Nap or no nap.  Lots of food prep or no food prep.  Finally, twelve years in the making, I am learning to delight in the people He’s given me to fill my cup, my plate, and my life, no matter how the events of the day unfold.

And by all means, if you see a woman this Mother’s Day who looks like she has a bathing suit cover-up on, and her children are all standing about ten feet behind with tear streaks on their faces, give that woman a hug and say, “Good job, momma.  You look great in that spring dress of yours.  I hope you get a nap this afternoon, and a free iPad by dinner.  And if your husband ever needs to know how to eat a snake, I know someone you need to call.”

For those of you who live in Houston, I have an exciting opportunity.  For three weeks in June, I will be teaching a Bible study at Houston’s First Baptist church on prayer.  We will be using my prayer guide and journal called Secure, due to be published and released right before the study in late May.  There is no need for you to register beforehand; just come the first night of the study ready to enter into a time of learning how to securely attach to a good Father who loves to connect with His children through the daily habit of prayer.

The study will be the first three Tuesday evenings of June, June 5, 12, and 19, from 6:30-8pm in the Reception Room at First Baptist.  The address is 7401 Katy Freeway / Houston, TX / 77024.

I hope to have the privilege of seeing some of your faces and meeting you there!