Plan, Delegate & Have Fun on Mother's Day

Mother’s Day

Moms are the best planners. Moms, sharpen up your delegating skills too! Moms need to be planners and delegators.

For my first Mother’s Day as a new mom I organized brunch at our house for my husband’s side of our family. My husband was raised by a hard working Mom. She worked, raised three children, and kept a home in the city and a cottage on a lake. She had to be a delegator or she would not have gotten everything done. She would start the family meal in the morning before work and my husband along with caring for a younger sister was expected to help with the dinner preparations before she arrived home from work. Thanks to my mother in law my husband grew up a helper.

 That first Mother’s day of mine my partner was helping were he could; the kitchen, yard work, our very rambunctious 8 month old. Everyone arrived and we enjoyed a loud and boisterous meal. Then Mother’s Day cards and gifts were passed around. I watched the other two mothers in the crowd open theirs and say thank-you and all sat and looked at me. I looked at my husband who looked mortified. He had forgotten to get a card or any small token of appreciation for me as a mother. I had not thought of planning for this moment and had not delegated. Maybe some of you think I should not have had to delegate but setting things up to receive the outcome you desire is the smartest plan of action in my book. Sure I felt a little hurt but got on with it. He worked 12 hour days, was up at night with a colicky baby and this was the first Mother’s Day we celebrated as our own family.

Right or wrong usually women are the planners and delegators in the home. Sometimes we just plan and neglect to delegate all we can. Loved ones rise to responsibility or challenges if we set it out the right way. The way I look at it, if we encourage our partners and children to do things for us we are giving them a gift. The look of joy, pride and confidence on their faces when they can organize a breakfast for us, even if it is cold cereal and juice, is momentous. We all like receiving comforts and truth be told most people love doling out comforts, sometimes they just need a little gentle prodding, planning and delegating to get them going.

Plan, Delegate, Have Fun

Deborah AnzingerP.H.Ec.