Happy Mother's Day or Whose mask goes on first?

For at least one day mothers get recognized for all they do.  Yeah yeah yeah we do it because we love to do it not for the glory.  We love being moms because everyday is such joy.  There is nothing else we would rather be than be a mother.  Just being a mom is reward enough.  Yeah yeah yeah!
But, really, it is nice to be recognized for what you do.  Last weekend I went away because of my race.  I was leaving on Saturday and returning Sunday.  I decided to leave late morning so I would have time  to prepare the usual Saturday breakfast - pancakes.  When I was leaving I reminded my husband that he had to buy a water filter for the fridge and a disposable camera for our daughter to take on her field trip.  Each child had a sporting event at a different time during the day on Saturday and on Sunday the 7 year old had an all day soccer tournament.
When I got back Sunday evening, there were take out containers from at least four different restaurants and the filter and camera were not purchased.  I asked how come they were not purchased knowing that he had to pass the appropriate stores at the very least twice over the weekend.  He said, well on one occasion he could not stop because the kids were hungry and it was just too busy, to top it off he is not superman.  I laughed and I said "but I would have gotten it done." He said "yes you would."
After waking up at 5:30am and running 10 miles, traveling back home on the train and driving another 30 minutes from the train station, I went back out to get the camera so my daughter would have it for her trip Monday morning.  Why? because my mom would have done that for me.  A huge part of who I am as a mom is what my mom did for me and still continues to do.  I have never outsourced a birthday party for the kids and friends will question my sanity.  But, I always say my mom never did.  I will never forget my birthday cake shaped like a piano with KitKat chocolate wafers as the keys.
Much of what a mother does is frankly, expected.  But, so many moms have the ability to make everything seem so effortless.  I don't really remember my mom yelling and screaming or being flustered.  She always made everything seem so easy.  Making everything seem so easy, would be the only flaw I now see.  Because it all seemed so easy, it appeared she did not need help.  So her efforts were taken for granted.
I started off on the path of appearing not to need help and creating the mystique of effortlessness.  I have now scaled back some of my grandeur. I remind my crew that I am human and that my superpowers are limited.  As a result of me admitting that I am human, I am allowed to make mistakes and keep expectations in perspective.  One big bonus to being human has been the recognition that I need to have time to rejuvenate myself.  When I resembled a superhero requiring a break seemed out of sync, but since my human admission, taking a break is a very welcomed concept.
Whenever I tell people that I try to take a break now and then, and they start with that look, I always say - you know when you get on the plane and they go through the emergency procedures, whose mask goes on first?