I Vote For A New Holiday, The Day After Mother's Day Day.

"1,034 days. You've been a mom for 1,034 days and if you really think about it, you've had maybe five days off in all that time," said my husband on the phone last night. My reply was simple, "Well, I certainly don't do it for the vacation days!"
I guess I had never even thought about it like that, but he's right. Almost. I've spent six nights away from the boys in almost three years which means I've technically had six days "off" from being a mom. That makes me laugh, mostly because I knew when I decided to become a mom that days off weren't exactly a part of the package. 
Although the benefits are priceless, being a mother certainly isn't a job one chooses for the recognition much less the hours. Bankers hours this job certainly is not. While we're on the subject, I have a hard time calling this a "job," kind of like how I hate asking my husband to "babysit" our kids while I spend a couple of hours running errands on a Saturday.
Being a mom is something I chose to do. It's a sacrifice and a blessing all wrapped up into two little bodies. It's consciously making the decision to be selfless, to put your needs second and the needs of your family first. Three years in and I still struggle with that some days. 
Being a mother is hard work. The hardest work I've ever done and I think that says a lot considering I've held the hands of the dying and been witness to miracles. Every day I feel the pressure of raising my boys to be kind, respectful, humble contributing members of society. Especially when one of them is standing in the middle of the grocery store shouting at me to "mine your bizzies."
Mother's Day is much like Valentine's Day in so much that it forces your loved ones to buy you a card and shower you with niceties and the occasional present. That said, it's nice to have a day come around each year where others are forced to recognize your sacrifices and accomplishments and you, as mom, have an excuse to politely demand sleeping in and no diapers to change before 11am. 
What really makes me laugh is that a mere 24 hours later, you're back in the trenches wiping noses and slinging dirty diapers like they're going out of style but with flowers to keep alive and a box of chocolates on the table teasing your ass out of the shape you worked so hard to get it in over the last several months. 
But hey, at least you got to sleep in and mom, you'd better appreciate it because those few extra hours you got are going to have to last you another 364 days. 
I vote we induct a new holiday into the calendar year, The Day After Mother's Day holiday, when reality sets back in and you're left clinging to the extra hours of sleep you won't see again for another whole entire year while you're two kidlets hold a screaming match at the kitchen table while simultaneously throwing their breakfast that you worked so hard to make to the dog.  
And while we're on the subject, is it so much to ask for just one decent family picture? JUST ONE? I'm seeing all these perfectly posed, perfectly coiffed mothers and their offspring popping up in my news feed, tweet feed, blogroll and I can't help but wonder "where can I get whatever sedative they gave their kids?" 
I'm kidding. I take that back. That picture you see up there? Is just perfect. That's my family and those two little boys you see? They're the ones who blessed me with the work that is being a mom and I wouldn't have it any other way. 
Happy Day After Mother's Day.