{"id":2,"date":"2023-05-17T20:46:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T20:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/https-wwwkendramartinorg-the-real-mvp-of-mothers-day\/"},"modified":"2024-02-29T12:14:35","modified_gmt":"2024-02-29T12:14:35","slug":"https-wwwkendramartinorg-the-real-mvp-of-mothers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/https-wwwkendramartinorg-the-real-mvp-of-mothers-day\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real MVP of Mother\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2\" class=\"elementor elementor-2\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1a64644b e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1a64644b\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-core-v316-plus=\"true\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2e592905 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2e592905\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.20.0 - 26-03-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<div class=\"\\&quot;sqs-html-content\\&quot;\"><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong>In a house-of-littles\u2026<\/strong><\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">\u2026you are not going to wake up to breakfast in bed that\u2019s been lovingly prepared by doting children.\u00a0 <em>And you are kinda glad of the fact because it takes a long. time. before they can clean up your kitchen after themselves as well as\u00a0<\/em><em>you can. Maybe never, right Mom? \ud83d\ude09<\/em><\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">You won\u2019t receive thoughtfully penned words.<em>\u00a0 Unless they are prompted by someone else.<\/em><\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">A bouquet from a florist won\u2019t be given by your four-year-old.\u00a0 <em>But you might get some dandelions that droop from a kitchen cup and water spilled on the carpet as he carries it <\/em><em>to you.<\/em><\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">They probably won\u2019t give you a back rub.<em>\u00a0 Unless you count bending to pick something up off the floor which somehow always signals to the boys that it\u2019s time to pounce on mommy\u2019s back.<\/em><b style=\"font-style: inherit; text-align: center; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/b><\/p><\/div><hr \/><div class=\"\\&quot;sqs-html-content\\&quot;\"><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">Maybe, you will feed the three-month-old who spits up all over your dress amid his happy coos.\u00a0 Make eggs for the child who only. wants. eggs.\u00a0 Make eggs for the other two\u00a0who already had cereal but are certain that they also want eggs.\u00a0 Wrestle children into their Sunday-best when they would rather not be dressed.\u00a0 Take less than 10 minutes to splash water on your face, do\u00a0your hair, and get dressed for the day.\u00a0 Make sure the diaper bag has the usual supplies as well as an extra set of clothes for the toilet-trained-toddler, <em>just in case.\u00a0 <\/em>Wipe the kitchen table and counters off and coax afore-mentioned boys to\u00a0eat their now-cold-eggs.<\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">Just a normal start to a normal morning.<\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong><em>While I know that my boys love me, they just\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>are not at the stage where communicating their deep love for me is very high on their priority list.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/div><hr \/><div class=\"\\&quot;sqs-html-content\\&quot;\"><strong style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-667 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/the-real-map.png?resize=1024%2C819&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/the-real-map.png?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/the-real-map.png?resize=300%2C240&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/the-real-map.png?resize=1024%2C819&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/the-real-map.png?resize=768%2C614&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/the-real-map.png?resize=1536%2C1229&amp;ssl=1 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/strong><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">But.\u00a0 Their Daddy reminded\u00a0them about Mother\u2019s Day after they woke; and they came to me with hugs and shining eyes.\u00a0 The shining eyes were\u00a0partially because they wanted to tell me that they loved me\u00a0but more because they wanted to tell me that they had a secret.\u00a0 They couldn\u2019t tell me; but they were going\u00a0to make a secret with Daddy during quiet-time today.\u00a0 And they could. not. wait.<\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">And throughout the rest of the morning, I heard little bits and pieces in hushed tones about the surprise that was awaiting.<\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">Planning, sawing, painting, and writing.\u00a0 It was precious because the ones most precious to me made it and gave it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">Their enthusiasm was superior to any ribbons or wrapping paper.<\/p><\/div><div class=\"\\&quot;\" data-test=\"\\&quot;image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\\&quot;\"><figure class=\"\\&quot;\" style=\"0max-width: 2558px;\"><div class=\"\\&quot;image-block-wrapper\\&quot;\" data-animation-role=\"\\&quot;image\\&quot;\"><div class=\"\\&quot;sqs-image-shape-container-element\" hidden=\"\"><p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"0display: block;\" data-src=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/f2ba047a-b333-4f08-a83c-0c8b76f70ec7\/6DA8D356-F3A8-4C01-BFB8-514B9392CBFB_1_201_a.jpeg\\&quot;\" data-sizes=\"\\&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/f2ba047a-b333-4f08-a83c-0c8b76f70ec7\/6DA8D356-F3A8-4C01-BFB8-514B9392CBFB_1_201_a.jpeg?format=100w\" alt=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" width=\"\\&quot;2558\\&quot;\" height=\"\\&quot;2577\\&quot;\" data-stretch=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-image=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/f2ba047a-b333-4f08-a83c-0c8b76f70ec7\/6DA8D356-F3A8-4C01-BFB8-514B9392CBFB_1_201_a.jpeg\\&quot;\" data-image-dimensions=\"\\&quot;2558x2577\\&quot;\" data-image-focal-point=\"\\&quot;0.5,0.5\\&quot;\" data-load=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-loader=\"\\&quot;sqs\\&quot;\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"0display: block;\" src=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/f2ba047a-b333-4f08-a83c-0c8b76f70ec7\/6DA8D356-F3A8-4C01-BFB8-514B9392CBFB_1_201_a.jpeg\\&quot;\" sizes=\"\\&quot;(max-width:\" srcset=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/f2ba047a-b333-4f08-a83c-0c8b76f70ec7\/6DA8D356-F3A8-4C01-BFB8-514B9392CBFB_1_201_a.jpeg?format=100w\" alt=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" width=\"\\&quot;2558\\&quot;\" height=\"\\&quot;2577\\&quot;\" data-stretch=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-image=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/f2ba047a-b333-4f08-a83c-0c8b76f70ec7\/6DA8D356-F3A8-4C01-BFB8-514B9392CBFB_1_201_a.jpeg\\&quot;\" data-image-dimensions=\"\\&quot;2558x2577\\&quot;\" data-image-focal-point=\"\\&quot;0.5,0.5\\&quot;\" data-load=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-loader=\"\\&quot;sqs\\&quot;\" \/><\/noscript><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div><hr \/><div class=\"\\&quot;sqs-html-content\\&quot;\"><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">We spontaneously invited my in-laws and sister-in-law and her family over for\u00a0a meal that evening.\u00a0 It was Kevin who did the majority of the work in the kitchen for a meal of taco salad and fresh-cranked ice cream. <em> Ice cream is high on\u00a0<\/em><em>the priority list for a Martin\u00a0<\/em><em>meal, and his mom has fond memories of skimming the cream from the cow\u2019s milk all week to enjoy a batch of\u00a0<\/em><em>hand-cranked ice cream over the weekend. <\/em><\/p><\/div><hr \/><div class=\"\\&quot;sqs-html-content\\&quot;\"><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-671 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_8353.jpeg?resize=1016%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1016\" height=\"1024\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1016px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1016\/1024;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-671\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_8353.jpeg?resize=1016%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1016\" height=\"1024\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/noscript>This Mother\u2019s Day, my children hand-made me a wooden puzzle that I will keep for years.<\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\">And I served a delicious meal to my Mother-in-law.<\/p><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\"><em>It might look like I have it all together.<\/em><b style=\"font-style: inherit; text-align: center; font-family: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-family ), Sans-serif;\">\u00a0<\/b><\/p><\/div><p class=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" style=\"0white-space: pre-wrap;\"><strong>But.\u00a0 It is the Daddy of a home-with-littles who is the true MVP on Mother\u2019s Day.<\/strong><\/p><div class=\"\\&quot;\" data-test=\"\\&quot;image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\\&quot;\"><figure class=\"\\&quot;\" style=\"0max-width: 2000px;\"><div class=\"\\&quot;image-block-wrapper\\&quot;\" data-animation-role=\"\\&quot;image\\&quot;\"><div class=\"\\&quot;sqs-image-shape-container-element\" hidden=\"\"><p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"0display: block;\" data-src=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/c3fba454-df34-462a-b1b1-214300b2f9aa\/the+real+map.png\\&quot;\" data-sizes=\"\\&quot;(max-width:\" data-srcset=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/c3fba454-df34-462a-b1b1-214300b2f9aa\/the+real+map.png?format=100w\" alt=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" width=\"\\&quot;2000\\&quot;\" height=\"\\&quot;1600\\&quot;\" data-stretch=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-image=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/c3fba454-df34-462a-b1b1-214300b2f9aa\/the+real+map.png\\&quot;\" data-image-dimensions=\"\\&quot;2000x1600\\&quot;\" data-image-focal-point=\"\\&quot;0.5,0.5\\&quot;\" data-load=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-loader=\"\\&quot;sqs\\&quot;\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"0display: block;\" src=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/c3fba454-df34-462a-b1b1-214300b2f9aa\/the+real+map.png\\&quot;\" sizes=\"\\&quot;(max-width:\" srcset=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/c3fba454-df34-462a-b1b1-214300b2f9aa\/the+real+map.png?format=100w\" alt=\"\\&quot;\\&quot;\" width=\"\\&quot;2000\\&quot;\" height=\"\\&quot;1600\\&quot;\" data-stretch=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-image=\"\\&quot;https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/636ea7e1f1c98358b43aea9f\/c3fba454-df34-462a-b1b1-214300b2f9aa\/the+real+map.png\\&quot;\" data-image-dimensions=\"\\&quot;2000x1600\\&quot;\" data-image-focal-point=\"\\&quot;0.5,0.5\\&quot;\" data-load=\"\\&quot;false\\&quot;\" data-loader=\"\\&quot;sqs\\&quot;\" \/><\/noscript><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\\\"\\\" style=\\\"white-space:pre-wrap;\\\">While I know that my boys love me, they just are not at the stage where communicating their deep love for me is very high on their priority list.  But, this mother-of-littles was shown love in words, in actions, and in tangible deeds\u2026 all because of the most valuable player in our home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[221,222,220],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kendramartin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/MVPCover.png?fit=2000%2C1600&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":674,"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2\/revisions\/674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kendramartin.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}