By Dylan Hagen
Hi everyone. Dylan here! I’m Katie’s husband and thought I’d take a turn as a Brevity contributor! As a family, we enjoy a good road trip. I know it gives me time to reflect. Well I say time to reflect, but that’s between multiple interruptions…
“It’s been a long day!” I hear shouted from the back of our minivan. That’s my sons Hudson & Fletchers way of asking, “Are we there yet?”
“Grandma and Papa live a long day away,” I hear a lot too – it’s another way Hudson tells us it’s a long drive.
Then our youngest, Shepherd, starts crying because he is hungry. So we stop to feed him. We check to see if anyone has to go potty?? But why do I ask, the answer is always “No!”
6 minutes further down the road, from the back of the minivan, I hear Hudson, “I have to go potty!”
We pull over at the next stop, hopefully before he pees his pants. While there we might as well change Shepherd’s and Fletcher’s diapers too. Restroom breaks seem to take a lot longer these days.
We are back in the van again and I hear, “Nack (snack) please!” says Fletcher, our bottomless pit. I should be happy at least he said “please”.
Followed by another, “It’s been a long day” from Hudson.
Katie keeps them occupied for a while with toys, water coloring books, and a song or two.
Now it’s time to for a movie and we pray they take a nap! But first, what movie will make both boys happy?!? The answer? No movie. No movie will make them both happy! Negotiations begin on who picks this movie and who gets to pick the next and after a few minutes, a movie starts.
At this point, I’m happy if I get a solid hour of quiet time. I really value this time because I enjoy reflecting. On this road trip I thought about mothers. My mind wondered through how blessed I was to have been brought up by my own mother. We were a middle-class family with five kids, I was the middle child. My mom had an in-home-daycare and I was fortunate enough to be home every day with her. I think back and wonder, how did she do it?!? FIVE kids and I think we are busy with three. She had breakfast ready every morning, cooked lunch, and our family dinner. The floors were always vacuumed, house dusted, dishes done, laundry clean, folded and put away, she helped us with homework, and I don’t remember her ever getting mad or frustrated with me. She made it a priority to be at every sporting event or school activity. How can I ever thank her for what she has poured into my life? She is the best mom I could ever ask for.
My mind turned and I started thinking about all the people who didn’t have a mother like mine. People who had the opposite of what I experienced. What is it like to have an absent mom? A physically or mentally abusive mom? Or a mom that passed away? What is Mother’s Day like for these people? I try to put myself in their shoes, but I can’t. What about the ladies who would do anything to be a mom, yet cannot or are struggling to get pregnant? It’s hard to say that Mother’s Day is a happy day for everyone.
With my mind in being in optimal reflection mode, it shifts again, and I start thinking about my wife, you know her as Katie Taube. She is sitting in the middle seat of the van, while our dog, Samson, is sitting shotgun. Why is she sitting in the middle seat?!? It’s simple, because she is a great mom. She sits in the middle because she loves our boys and wants to make a long drive go by faster for them.
She is able to tend to Shepherd as he needs to be rocked in his car seat.
She has a bag full of “nacks” (snacks) for Fletcher and Hudson.
She brings another bag full of kid activities, including; books, water coloring books, toy animals, dinosaurs, cars, and more.
She sings songs with them and when on good behavior, they get to watch a movie on the iPad.
Who crawls in back to set up the iPad? Katie.
Who crawls in back when the iPad slips off the holder? That’s right, Katie.
Who crawls in back to click the low battery popup because they boys don’t like it being in the middle of their movie? You guessed it, Katie.
Who crawls in the back when they drop a toy? Katie.
After every stop, sometimes up to 3 stops within 30 minutes, who crawls in back to buckle-in the boys? Katie.
I always knew she did a lot for our family, but it’s reflection time like this when I realize that I miss 90% of what she does and it’s not just what she does, it how she does it. She is always smiling, has a positive attitude, and makes me want to be a better person.
But again I hear Shepherd start to cry and my reflection has ended. I hear Hudson saying “It’s been a long day” and Fletcher asking for another “Nack, please!”.
I hope you had you a great Mother’s Day! I also hope we can all remember to do something kind for those who might not enjoy the day’s celebrations as much.