hi there! i'm michelle, southern california based photographer and curator of the coco gallery.

welcome to my blog where i share my life, my latest adventures, photo projects, random nuggets and the occasional stray thoughts.

for clients: to view my portfolio just click on this link - theCOCOgallery.com. to book sessions please send me a message through theCOCOgallery.com or contact me via michelle@thecocogallery.com | 949.734.0604



Saturday, May 9, 2015

mother's day and my possibly unpopular opinion


national holidays that land on week days calls for a day off of work. mother's day is on sunday, technically a work day for us moms .. so mother's day should mean i get to take a day off right?

more on this day off concept.

what i want most for mother's day, aside from some sweet acknowledgement of all that i do for our family, is a break. i would LOVE a day where i could sleep in, couch potato, be waited on hand and foot and if i spill something on that hand or foot, someone else would pick up the mess (constantly). i want a break from wiping butts and boogers, house chores, being at everyone's beck and call, AND all the worries that come with taking even a second off from all the mommy responsibilities that i lay on myself. in other words, i would like somebody to take over ALL that i do, with no grumbling, for just a day.

that said, curtis is in vegas with the boys, doing a boys weekend. he told me last week that they randomly came up with this plan. i raised my eyebrows and said "so you're telling me that you're taking off to go have fun. in vegas. with the boys. on mother's day weekend. ... really?" to which he replied with a pause and look that said "oh shit." and before he could even backpedal, i said, "it's fine. go do your thing. but i expect you to make up for this. don't ask me what i would like. what i want is for you to think about how much i mean to you and how much you have to make up for this. compensate in kind. i look forward to seeing what you come up with." and i smile.

nobody be upset with him. nobody commend me for being incredibly generous either. wedding season has begun and he's got a few solo parenting weekends in the horizon. giving him this time is just fair. besides, lunch and or dinner out is a sweet gesture but i cringe at the cost of going to a restaurant on this highly advertised day. and i really don't have the patience for the wait or the number of people that are out and about doing exactly that for all the celebrated moms out there. then there's the usual activity that i would have to do to get the family ready to even leave the house for a day that was supposed to be for me. what would be cool is if dad took the kids out for a bit (after managing all the chores i would have done), gave me the gift of peace which i could spend on the couch reading a book, doing my nails or surfing fb on my phone if i like. then letting me get ready at my leisure to take me out to a dinner (not on mother's day) with or without the kids.

i know that the popular opinion is that kids should spend mother's day with their moms. now that i'm a mom, i think i'll be looking forward to embracing that opinion when the kids are older. at some point they will stop clinging to me and start ignoring me. at some point they will grow up and move out. at this stage of our relationship, however, we are together a lot. their dependence on me is a daily, hourly, minutely thing and it's the definition of our time together. so on mother's day, i want to declare a holiday from them and have some time with me. i love them. i love them oh so much. but do you get what i'm saying? trust me, on father's day, curtis can take the day, go surfing, go biking, go out and do what he enjoys to his heart's content. i'll take one for the team and be home to manage everyone and every thing. i'll even take the trash out and wash the cars.

p.s. camera gear, shoes, phones and smart watches cost a wee bit more than flowers but they last much longer.


just me and the girls on an all girls weekend doing girl things and spending mother's day together...