I ain't no dummy. Kelly and I have always been lax in our celebration of gift events. We haven't gotten each other Christmas presents in a few years. Birthday presents show up about once every other year. Usually a good card will suffice, and then we'll go out to eat.
But I wasn't fooling myself that the same kind of observance would pass on this, her first Mother's Day. I started planning a week in advance for how I would work it.
Step One: the gift. Fortunately Kelly tipped me off a few weeks ago that she'd love to get a massage session with a person she knows at Standard. This was my break, but I had to create a diversion so that she wouldn't be sure that I had actually listened. I negotiated a secret drop-off-type arrangement, a flawless exchange that she wouldn't at all suspect. I actually got her a few sessions, and she was none-the-wiser.
Step Two: the card. This might seem simple enough; it's not like I haven't picked out a card before. But this was Mother's Day, so the card had to be from both Kaelyn and me. After finding the "from us" card selection unsatisfactory, I opted to go with one card from each of us. Kaelyn selected a Care Bears card [yes, apparently they still have Care Bears and Kaelyn did a great job picking it out] whereas I opted for a more sappy "from daddy" card. This too worked out and impressed the Mommy very much.
Step Three: the meal. The perfect way to get the morning going is the Mother's Day breakfast. I went out Friday and purchased the ingredients I needed for a proper pancake breakfast. I hid them in the back of my Explorer until late Saturday night when I gave Kelly an invitation/menu announcing it. Yesterday morning I was a pancake machine and we were able to sit down and enjoy Kel's very first Mother's Day.
Mission accomplished. But I already told Kelly not to expect that kind of treatment every year. Was I kidding, or am I, again, creating a diversion? Only time will tell . . .
Here's a picture of the ladies on their first Mother's Day together: