Leaving Surprises on the Bed-A Secret Tradition between a Mom and her Children

I fondly remember those once in a while days when I would come home from school to find a little surprise waiting for me on my bed. I always knew my mom had been out shopping with my Grandma or Aunt Pat, and she saw something that she knew I would like. It was the 80's, so they were little things, like new headbands or jelly bracelets. It could have been new socks, a book or a pack of my favorite bubble gum. It didn't matter. Whenever a small trinket or treat was waiting for me after a long day at school, I felt excitement and love from my mom.

I started this tradition with my own four kids many years ago, and now they are now 12, 11, 8, and 5. I never tell them that I've left something on their beds. That's the fun of it. I wait downstairs, as the moments tick by, until they spot the surprises.

Last summer, all four kids spent an entire week with their grandparents. I enjoyed a blissfully quiet time of recuperation. During my leisurely strolls through Target, which would usually never occur in the summer with four kids, I made sure to buy each of them a little something to have waiting on their beds when they came home…something to remind them that while they were gone, I was still thinking of them. Missing them.

One of the first things my daughter asked me when we picked them up from Grandma's was, "Did you clean my room while I was gone? I bet you cleaned my room and left a surprise on my pillow." The fact that she was anxiously hoping for that surprise made my day, knowing that, of course, I had done it. That moment was the first time I realized that she was aware of the tradition I had been doing for years, and she was looking forward to it, too.

She ran up to her room and was the first one to find her treats. She enthusiastically told her three brothers to check their beds, too. Each child thanked me and told me how much they loved their new toy and candy. It was nothing expensive or fancy. A stuffed animal key chain and Pez dispenser was plenty to thrill them.

My mom stayed home with my brothers and me for over eighteen years. I hope that I showed my appreciation for her when I was young, but I'm sure I was ungrateful plenty of times. Recently, I just told both of my parents how much I loved having surprises on my bed when I was young, and that I'm glad my kids love it, too. My dad's response?

"Hey, she never left surprises on my pillow!" 

Some things are just special between a mother and her children.

I am thankful for the incredible role model of motherhood that my mom has been to me. Naturally, she has morphed into a glorious grandmother to nine kiddos, and now I'm trying my best to be as special of a mom to my kids as she was to me. I can only wish that when my daughter has her own babies, she, too, will carry on the "surprises on the bed" tradition and reminisce about the days I did it for her brothers and her.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! You are making memories you may not even realize, with the simple things you do every day.
    

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