I have started this post three times now, and nothing feels quite right. You see, I really can’t stand Mother’s Day, and I just had the best one ever.

If that is upsetting, feel free to stop reading here. This has been a hard year. However, if you are satisfied with your Mother’s Day celebrations and your relationship to the day itself, or if you deal with negative feelings towards the “holiday” and could use some hope, read on.

I worked the night shift this past Friday. I was sleeping Saturday when the preparations started. The kids secretly made my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and then washed every last tray and bowl to hide the evidence.

Usually, when we make cookies at our house, it is not subtle, but when I woke up late Saturday afternoon, I didn’t see anything amiss. In fact, when one kid started acting suspicious, I was able to honestly say I hadn’t seen anything. I later found out she had accidentally left her Mother’s Day to-do list out and she thought I had seen it.

My fourteen year old daughter and nine year old son woke up at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday to do the dishes again and tidy the kitchen so that it would be completely clean when I came downstairs.

When I came down that morning, they showed me the empty sink, then settled me into a chair at the dining room table. One by one, the kids presented their gifts, all different types of sweet treats they know I like, including a tupperware of the secretly made cookies.

My teenage daughter said that if we were going to do some costuming before church, we should get started. Costuming, too?!

We dressed up, which takes a long time when all the clothes lace or tie closed and each person is wearing several layers. We went outside and took pictures in the blinding, mid- morning sun. We saw the neighbors peeking through their screen door at us. I hope they enjoyed seeing us as much as we enjoyed dressing up.

We made it to church on time, which, like the dishes, is a thing all by itself. At the end of Mass, I awkwardly stood and received my blessing. After the service, we regrouped, filled water bottles, purchased snacks, and headed to Grafton Lakes State Park to do Long Pond Trail, a 2.5 mile loop around the lake. We did this for the first time on my birthday, because I’ve always wanted to. I had hoped we could come back and see it in the springtime.

The best part is that one of the kids wanted to do this specific hike at this park, too, and asked about it earlier in the week, so I was able to do the thing I wanted without it having to be my idea. This way, if things went badly, it wouldn’t be my fault!

The trail was boggy in many places, with lots of scrambling over rocks and logs to avoid wet sneakers. The lakes’ high elevation meant a delayed spring, several weeks behind where we live in the city. The trees were still just budding and the forest floor was clear of brush. The trail was completely different from our last hike there, and the wet areas made it an adventure.

There were frequent snack breaks, and lots of hallooing. I spent part of the hike in the back with the Chaplain and the baby, part of the hike in the front with the big kids.

For one magical stretch towards the end, I ended up alone in between the two groups, out of sight of either. Except for the joyful shouts of the kids up ahead, who later told me they were making lots of noise so I’d know where they were, the forest was so quiet. I don’t know if I’ve ever been on a forest hike by myself in my entire life and it was incredible.

We hung out a while longer by the lake. Those people who didn’t already have damp shoes made sure they got their feet wet, and sandy, too, then we spent a long ride home characterized by a lot of bickering.

I went straight to bed once we got back, even though it was only six p.m. I was just planning to read a book for a while to chill out, but once I lay down, I realized I wasn’t getting up again. My teenage daughter came through yet again, serving me a veggie burger from the grill in bed. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until all the kids were in bed.

The Chaplain and I watched a show with subtitles together that evening, which is a great way to prevent you from doing anything else besides staying present to your partner and focusing on one thing together. (Subtitles are an excellent multitasking deterrent to those of us who have trouble sitting and doing “nothing,” even when “nothing” is spending quality time with your partner).

Sometime that evening, I came out to the kitchen and discovered a reusable grocery bag on top of the dishwasher, which is my Command Central. My oldest kid, who doesn’t believe in recycling, had purchased a reusable bag to hold my gift. In it was a card that said “Thanks for keeping me alive, Mom” and some more of my favorite sweet treats.

When I went in to thank him, he told me he’d also bought two tubs of my favorite flavors of ice cream; I could find it in the freezer.

After the show (and ice cream), we went to bed. I read my book for a while, and went to sleep.

It was pretty much the perfect day.