It obviously felt different this year, but this Mother’s Day had the same basic elements as the last 16 for me. Breakfast in bed and presents, Mass (albeit watched on a TV screen), and catching up with both my mum and mother-in-law at some point.

Saturday was nice too, I spent a lot of it tending to my little pot plant collection, upgrading plants to larger pots, planting radish and kale seedlings, killing one large redback spider that had made a home in an empty upturned pot.

There was time today to take mum on a very mini-bushwalk near our house, which I was glad to do. It’s a magical feeling to be walking in neat and tidy suburban streets, and then find yourself following a creek on a trail through what almost feels like rainforest just a few minutes later.

Daughter #1 made me a lemon meringue pie from scratch which we ate after the walk. Actually, she made two – one to take to my mother-in-law’s place later in the day. But she left it in the fridge so we still have another whole one for tomorrow, yay!

A sister and nephew were here too – which meant our gathering was well within the legal limits. (From this weekend in NSW visiting for any reason is ok, so long as it’s only two adults and up to three kids of the same family.)

My favourite aspect of this day is always the homemade cards and gifts. I remember Mother’s Day mornings when I was in primary school and bringing my little presents to my mum. I know how much love and fearful hope that she will like it goes into those small offerings!

Our eldest son just came and read this – and was surprised that my writing is so simple, haha! “It’s like a kid in Year 6 has written it, not an adult,” he tells me.

I tell him that blog writing can be different to what I do for work or if I was going to write a description-heavy bit of fiction. That seems to satisfy him – or maybe he didn’t want me to launch into any fuller explanation of genres and styles of writing – because he’s gone again.

So I think it’s bed-time for the boys and that means I have to go and do the night prayers thing and all the hugging and last-questions and sheet-tucking that they require before they go to sleep! But I don’t mind. I know they won’t need it for very much longer.