The Empty Nest or the Greatest Mother's Day Gift?

  Today being Mother's Day, I set about my usual chores.  Yep, my kids have all grown and left the nest except for one who decided to stay put. Which is fine as he is a big help around the place.  The others are married and have their own homes.  The oldest, his wife and two children live far from the Bayou while my daughter and her husband are just a short distance away.  I figured that today was not much different than any other day and if chores needed doing, I needed to get them done.  One of the first things was to pot a few houseplants into some new hanging baskets.  Since this was to be done in the greenhouse, that was my first stop.  No sooner had I stepped inside than I knew that this was a huge mistake.  Birds!  Birds were everywhere!  The baby wrens had chosen Mother's Day to leave the nest!  My entrance into the greenhouse had the four tots all aflutter!  Their wild fluttering and frantic chirping soon brought Mama and Papa Wren racing inside also. Ok, so six birds flopping about the greenhouse in a frenzied panic was a bit much.  I started to ease out the door.  Then I had the bright idea!  I should open the door and let the little ones fly free!  As it was, they would have to make their way all the way up to the eaves of the greenhouse to the one small opening if they ever wanted to explore the wild, blue yonder.  That thought vanished as quickly as it came with the realization that two cats were on the prowl.  NO!  No, Little Birds!  Stay put and practice your flight inside the safety of the greenhouse!  I carefully backed out of the door and closed it behind me!  All babies were safe!

  The fledgling birds got me to thinking about Mama Bird's fantastic Mother's Day Gift. She witnessed her four little ones growing to maturity and leaving the nest.  She had done well and was rewarded by seeing them become quite the efficient little foragers.  Soon they would be on their own and she could sit back and smile. Yep, she had done her job as a mother well.

  This also got me to thinking about my Mother's Day.  It is a great gift indeed to see your offspring grow into hardworking, productive adults. I can honestly say that all three of my children have made me proud. Sure, I wish I could see them daily.  Sometimes that empty-nest syndrome makes me blue but overall, things are good.  Happy Mother's Day to you.....to me....to all of us who made it our priority to raise our children to be fine adults.  We did the job well.