Luna, sweetie, I know this must have been really tough! Remember the good times! My grandsons were my Mother's Day blessing! They bring such joy to our home when they visit! (yes, they live 3 whole miles away now lol) I sent this prayer around to a few of the GJers, but I don't have addy's for all of you, so I'm going to paste this prayer/story in here, because I thought it is perfect for Mother's Day: Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged, and the mother said, 'I love you, and I pray you enough.' The daughter replied, 'Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I pray you enough, too, Mom.' They kissed, and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy, but she welcomed me in by asking, 'Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?' Yes, I have,' I replied. 'Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?' Well...I'm not as young as I once was, she lives so far away & has her own busy life. I have some challenges ahead, and reality is - her next trip back will be for my funeral,' she said.. When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, 'I pray you enough.' May I ask what that means?' She began to smile. 'That's a prayer that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.' She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail, and she smiled even more. 'When we said, 'I pray you enough,' we wanted the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them.' Then, turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.. I pray you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear. I pray you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more. I pray you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive and everlasting. I pray you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger. I pray you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I pray you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I pray you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye. Then, she began to cry, and walked away. They say, it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but an entire life to forget them. TAKE TIME TO LIVE..... To all my friends and loved ones, I PRAY YOU ENOUGH....... May God Bless You In Ways You Never Dreamed of Today!

I think that would be a fine time to plant them Neil. So far, I only have two that have sprouted,but I am hopeful for more.Have you decided where you are going to plant them?Your in Chicago, right,I believe our last frost date is around May 15th.Good luck,are you warm enough today,ha ha,it is now at,,,,,84,,,,,,and Hot cAROL, WHO IS not COMPLAINING.

Happy Mother's day Sayhello. You and single moms have my praise!!

I absolutely think it was good advice. You are being very fair to EVERYONE. You are correct - if your SS has obligations to do at his mom's house, going to visit dad shouldn't be the reason why he doesn't get his chores done, assuming he had ample time and that the chores weren't thrown at him at the last second. Also, teaching children respect for EVERYONE, esp. one's parents just is the right thing to do. I got annoyed w/ my husband's ex as she viewed any civility towards me by the children as disloyalty to her. What a horrible position in which to put your children! I mean, you can't just say, "Show respect for your elders, except her - I don't like her, and him - he bothers me, and this one and that one...." Maybe I got a little different take on things in your first post - that BM was crying, feeling displaced, etc. Perhaps now, though she gave you the green light (I assume or you'd have backed off in your lunch meeting early on), she is feeling like she has a vendetta against you and your husband, and is using the kids w/ her negativism in an attempt to turn them against you and their dad. However, it appears to be backfiring as the children sound sick of listening to her harp on one thing or another. Maybe that's why she's so upset these days??? Maybe she played her hand, thought she'd win the kids' affection by at least turning them against you/DH and now knows it didn't work and she's left being viewed as angry and bitter by everyone? Does she want pity? My DH's ex also whined about the engagement ring he bought me to the children. It was so sad that a happy time in their father's life was seen as a catastrophe by them. (BTW, they split because she was having an affair w/ the DD's tennis coach - he later dumped her after DH and I started dating.) Your DH's ex had no business involving the children in the adults' affairs - such as the ring, the hockey, etc. To take your DH's postponement of the hockey situation by one week, for goodness sake, and act like he had the choice to buy the ring or help w/ hockey is just sick. Why would anyone, even if it was true, want her child to feel like a piece of jewelry was more important than him, his sport, or whatever? It's just twisted. Hang in there - you sound level headed and very fair. I'm curious as to that meeting you had w/ the ex at lunch. Did the conversation during lunch go downhill fast or was it the weeks and months that followed that took a downward spiral w/ respect to this woman? I'm wondering how she acted and all at the lunch - like did it end of friendly terms or did she become hostile, etc? My DH's ex proposed we meet way back when to talk, but she was so crazy at the time (is better now) that I wouldn't agree to it. Keep posting! Dana