Making the Most of Mothers' Day

 

I've been missing from my blog for the last couple of weeks. That being said...I've been missing from a lot of things these days. I'm not exactly depressed, but I find myself feeling tired. Feeling useless. Feeling hopeless. Feeling lost in the monotony of housework and homework. Wondering what good am I for besides cleaning up messes and making sure my children are doing what they need to be doing. Wishing that my life was not one of single-married-hood. Wanting things that I simply cannot have.

It came to a head yesterday when I found myself snapping at my children and melting into tears of frustration. Frustration with my life. With the size of my bum and belly. With stupid, expensive mistakes. With goals that aren't coming to fruition. With mountains of laundry. With the thought of my husband leaving me alone again for weeks on end. With the never ending demands of motherhood.

I grappled to understand why it was so hard for me to be content right now. Typically, I find a great deal of joy in taking care of my home and family. What had changed? Why was I feeling so gloomy about everything?

Right before bed, it dawned on me. Mothers' Day is right around the corner.

Ahh Mothers' Day. The day I feel like the most worthless piece of humanity.

That would be greatly thanks to the traditional few weeks of failed parenting leading up to this day of maternal tribute. Yep, it's an annual thing. The days before that second Sunday in May, I find myself wading through heightened chaos with a decreased amount of patience.

The spilled milk. The bedtime balking. The fights over toys. The complaints about what's for dinner. The incessant demands to be fed. The sleepless nights. The seat belt struggle.

Molehills become mountains. Happy Mommy mutates into Grouchy Mommy. There is not much "love at home".

And by Mothers' Day I can hardly bear the cards and gifts and church service with all the sappy mother stories. Why? Because I sit there feeling like one big hypocrite.

Mothers are supposed to be sweet and kind and gentle and patient and whisper loving, confidence-building things into their children's eagerly listening ears. Regardless of how wonderful a mother I was the other eleven months of the year, it's those few prior weeks of particular bad behavior that stands so starkly in my mind on Sunday. And the spirit of Mothers' Day is destroyed.

Hmm...Now who do you think would love to sabotage such a beautiful occasion that celebrates one of the most important parts of a happy family??? Hmm.

Here's to ignoring The Adversary, to looking past faults, to letting go, to always trying to find happiness in the smallest things, to indulging in a cupcake in your closet, to turning a blind eye to the sticky finger prints on the walls, to being patient and kind and gentle, to enjoying Mothers' Day guilt-free every year!

Wish me luck.

Jar Love #47: Homemade Sugar Scrub for Mothers' Day Gifts

When I was looking for Mothers' Day gift ideas a couple of weeks ago, my love of jars may or may not have influenced my search results.

Homemade sugar scrub...? In canning jars...??

Yes. Please. And thank you!

The truth: I know knew very little about what exactly one does with sugar scrub. (Do you eat it or wash walls with it?) But after a bit of research I discovered sugar scrub (and even more so HOMEMADE sugar scrub) is all the rage for those poor, cracked, scaly, summer-ravaged feet and hands out there. It claims to exfoliate and rejuvinate even the most abused skin. Ahhh! And I've been suffering in silence all this time.

So I figured I would give it a go. I found a recipe for homemade lemon sugar scrub. Now to find all the "gourmet" ingredients...

Sugar. As in regular, plain, old, ordinary, baking, table, cereal sugar. Check.
EVOO. Extra virgin olive oil. Check.
Lemon juice. Bottled. Check.
Essential oils. Screeeech!

After a tad more research I discovered essential oils can be obtained at your local natural/health food store. One quick "Kids! To the van!" later...I had some essential oils in my hot little hand. Lavender. Mmmm.

Back home and about 2.41 minutes later I had my own resealable jar full of homemade lemon sugar scrub. Fresh, fragrant, and fully capable of exfoliating all that yucky skin off my hands and feet. I tried it out on my scaly legs too and it worked beautifully! Smooth, satiny, and rejuvinated with lemon and lavender!

Side note: Someone mentioned that sugar scrub was good to shave with. I don't know if I was doing something wrong or if I'm just a wimp, but after one swipe with the razor...I have come to the conclusion that you should indeed NOT shave with sugar scrub. OUCH!

Armpit note: Scrub is not to be used on your face either. Facial skin is much too delicate.

After making my own jar of scrub I was hooked. The world must know of the goodness of homemade sugar scrub! I went on to make a couple of quadrupled batches in my big popcorn bowl. My childen kept begging for a taste as I giddily stirred my sugar, EVOO, lemon juice, and essential oils concoctions.

25 eight ounce canning jars later...

...I had Mothers' Day gifts for the moms of the primary children of our ward, thank yous for Teacher Appreciation Week, and more Mothers' Day gifts for our own moms, grandmas, and friends.

The beauty of homemade sugar scrub (besides the obvious eye appeal of it sitting on the counter in a clear canning jar) is how easy it is to make, adjust, and personalize. Don't like lemon or lavender? No problem! Try peppermint instead. Or vanilla. Or use brown sugar instead of white. Or switch out the EVOO for grapeseed oil. You really can't go wrong with this. There are tons of free recipes online for homemade sugar scrubs.

Once you have your jars filled, decorate and personalize your containers to your heart's desire. Again, if you're feeling creatively flat, go online for lots of decorating ideas. For my jars, I used a big circle paper punch to cut out circles of lemony yellow scrapbook paper. I applied it to the jar front and lid top with Modge Podge.

I figured there might be other people out there who are as clueless as I was about sugar scrubs so I added a label as well as a tag with the scrub ingredients, an explanation of what it was, how much to use, and to make sure to stir it up before each use.

I also wrote and attached a little poem to the Mothers' Day jars. I just couldn't let a good pun opportunity pass me by.

Recipe for Homemade Lemon Sugar Scrub (makes 12 oz with a bit to spare):
2.5 cups sugar
1 cup EVOO
4 TBSP lemon juice
several drops of essential oil

Combine ingredients in bowl. Mix thoroughly into a gritty paste. Pour into desired container. Seal tightly. Oil will separate as it sits; make sure to stir again before each use.

I know I'm a little late for Mothers' Day now, but this would make a great baby shower favor, an addition to a new mother basket, a thank you for the church ladies, or a "just because I was thinking of you" treat. And don't leave yourself out! Whip up a batch and spoil your own hands once in awhile. Especially after you've covered them in gardening grime, pasty paint, or crafting crud.