I was afraid to get out of bed Sunday. It was Mother’s Day. Those of you who have been reading this column since its inception, the birth of my first child, know that the day doesn’t usually go well for me.

I laid there in bed wondering what the day would hold. Was my house going to turn into Q-Tip heaven again? Would the boys find the cleaning supplies again? However, for the first time I had an uneventful day. Now some may not like the thought of an uneventful Mother’s Day, but I welcome it. Afterall, for me, the day usually turns into more cleaning. On that thought, I’d love to leave you with a recollection of an eventful Mother’s Day two years ago. The story goes something like this…

Lee was giving me the treat of sleeping in that morning. The only problem was he fell back asleep too. As he slumbered on the couch, the boys deciding it was time to help Mommy clean. This might be music to some mothers’ ears, but not when the cleaning crew is a 3-year old and a 1-year old.

Just when Sandman had drawn me into a deep sleep, Lee bursts into the bedroom yelling he needed my help! I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen. There, on the floor sat my two, ahem, angels. The smaller of the two was soaked in Orange Glow cleaning spray and covered with Carpet Fresh from head to toe. But, that wasn’t all. Every square inch of my kitchen floor was covered in the greasy, grainy, powdery solution.

Gavin stared up at me as if everything was peachy and said, “We cleaned for you Mommy!” Gee…thanks.

I sent Lee to the bathtub with the mischief makers and proceeded to find a way to get the greasy mixture off my floor. Twenty minutes into my cleaning adventure, Lee came to me and said, “The stuff just won’t come out of Ethan’s hair.”

Me, being the inquisitive one, said “Did you use shampoo?” He told me he used whatever was in the bottle by the bathtub, meaning had hadn’t bothered to look at the label. I went to the bathroom to discover that my dear husband had added insult to injury by washing Ethan’s hair with conditioner. No shampoo was in sight. It only made it worse.

So, after an hour of bathing, shampooing and rinsing and two hours of scrubbing the floors I decided my extra 20 minutes of sleeping in probably wasn’t worth it!

That being said, this column is a tribute to all the mothers who find themselves a little overwhelmed on their special day. Here’s to you, Mom!

Eva Faircloth is a former newspaper editor who resides in Loxley with her husband, Lee, and two sons, Gavin and Ethan. She can be reached at eva@cyrisoft.com.