Mother's Day is one of those holiday's that means different things to different people; I've always believed it's a day that one should devote to their own mother. Mine was out of town this year so I did my favorite thing and took my kids on a trip so my daughter could play soccer. I love my kids and doing anything with them is the best way I've come up with to spend my time. This past weekend was a little tricky though, remember, it was Mother's Day. My children were not only scheduled to be with theirs but it's a holiday that I obviously would let her spend with them regardless of schedules. The problem was this soccer tournament in Sheridan, Wyoming. I spoke with their mother several weeks before and as usual, she had no interest and no money. I don't understand the no interest part, and the no money should be re-phrased "no money to spend on doing things with my kids." She has money, maybe not a lot but our salaries are nearly identical. If anything, she makes more than I do so if I can do it, so can she right? Just my thoughts on that. I offered to take Ky and leave the boys with her; she said if I was taking one, I should take them all. Now before I go any further I need to remind you that I am in love with this woman. Well, not really this woman, but a woman that looks much like her but was a decent person. She was a decent mother, a decent wife, and was part of a beautiful family that should still be. I still hope to find her again but where or when I don't know. Is she gone forever, lost in her new dark world? No, someday she will wake up, I just hope it's before she's lying on her death bed. I make it known where I stand, I'm OK with it, and the rest is open to how the story ends. Now back to the new. I gave her an extra day with the kids in the week leading up to the weekend and we left for Sheridan on Friday night.
The trip over was beautiful, no deer in the road so all was good. We checked into our hotel just ahead of another group of girls from Ky's team. We got to our room and the rest of the team was in rooms around us so Ky dropped her bag off and left for a tour with her team mates. The boys and I unpacked some, then went to find the girls. We found them by the lobby and pool and wound things down about 11 o'clock. The next day started with a trip to the drive-thru for breakfast, a driving tour of Sheridan and a practice trip to the fields. The tournament was held at the equestrian center between Sheridan and Big Horn Wyoming. Having been around equestrian events most of my life, my hopes were not high on the facilities we might find. Good horse country doesn't necessarily make for good soccer country. My opinion was forever changed when we stepped out of the car onto fields, equestrian fields, that put any grass in Rapid to shame. It was tight and soft with no hoof prints to be found; the bonus was being right at the foot of the mountains. Beautiful fields, beautiful scenery, and great competition. They played two games Saturday, great soccer under a beautiful Wyoming sky.
When we got back to the hotel I had the kids call their mother for goodnight wishes. My kids miss their mother being part of our "family" trips and this was obvious by their conversations with her that evening. The boys said their usual two second good nights and then it was my daughter's turn. She was on the phone, telling her mother all about the games and the plays she had made and I heard her stop talking, say "what?" then say "oh, that's cool" in a not so thrilled tone. She got off the phone and I asked my usual, "so how is Mom tonight?" They all said "fine" but there was discontent with Ky's response. I waited until the boys were occupied with the TV, and asked if everything was OK. She told me that she was telling her mom about her tournament and her mother's response was "guess what? pukey graduated today!" This was what she answered "oh, that's cool" to earlier on the phone. So picture this; your daughter is playing in an out of state, regional soccer tournament and is telling you all about it. You answer with "this guy I'm dating, whom I know you don't like, graduated from a vocational school today." Just as it sounds, Ky is disappointed. We had a very frank discussion where I got to listen to my daughter vocalize her feelings that her mother's methy boyfriend means more to her than she does. Ky's team shut out everybody they played, not because of easy games, but because of the pure talent and skill of her team. Not only was her mother not there to see it, but she was more excited at the opportunity to have yet another poorly attended party for a bunch of losers than she was about her daughter's activities.
The other half of her team won their division as well, so they played each other in the finals the next afternoon. Sunday morning (Mother's Day) we were up early and I had the kids call their mother first thing. We called several times and went to voicemail each time. Their mother called back later in the day so they got to make their Mother's day wishes to her. Turns out there was a party at her house the night before, I suppose this plays into her not answering her phone that morning. We drove back to Rapid City under beautiful, partly cloudy skies with great memories of another wonderful weekend in Wyoming. I'm a little biased, but is there any other kind of Wyoming weekend? The kids fell asleep on the way home and I got to discover another "only a parent would notice" kind of thing. As the kids were sleeping, their breathing was about half a breath apart, making a little chorus of children breathing as a back drop to the scenery. It was a beautiful combination.
That's how my kids and I spent Mother's Day 2007. And how their mother chose to spend hers. I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did; priorities I guess! My picture is Ky on the field at the foot of the mountains.
