Mother of My Kids

Happy Mother's Day,

No, this is not Brooke writing. It's Nick's turn again. I wrote the first post almost 4 years ago and Brooke has hijacked the blog ever since.

Anyway, it is time for me to write a little bit regarding the finest mother kids could ask for......Brooke. I know that being a SAHM isn't all it is cracked up to be. I have volunteered multiple times to stay home with the kids after work or on a saturday so Brooke can have a couple of hours to do "girl" stuff or other things, and to tel you the truth, it is very stressful and difficult. That is why whenever I have done it, I always end up going out to my parent's house to get some help. I don't know how she does it every single day. I know the times when she gets away are few and far between due to my work schedule and I wish she had more. Sometimes she says "no" when I tell her she can go do something for a few hours. I think she doesn't want to come back to a stressed out husband and the house in disarray. I don't blame her. How she manages to keep things from getting out of control or, at least hide it well, I'll never know. But I know that she is a wonderful mother and able to do things that I would never be able to do.

I'll never forget when Brooke was pregnant with Reagan. She was "addicted" the the show "A Baby Story". When it came time to plan out the delivery and after parts, she would constantly tell me that she wanted Reagan cleaned up before she wanted to hold her. So when the time came and Reagan was delivered, a nurse asked Brooke if she wanted to hold her. I was about to do my fatherly duty and tell the nurse to clean her up first per my wife's wishes. But to my surprise, Brooke said she wanted to see her right away. I think something switched immediately in her and it's been that way ever since. (Not the constantly changing her mind cause she was that way even before we had kids). Brooke has always made sure we do what is best for our kids. And Reagan seeing and being held by her mother the second after she was born was what was best for her. Four years later and that has not changed. Whether it is always staying in hotels that have swimming pools for the kids to play in, buying fun toys, vacationing in locations that are family friendly, etc. Brooke is a lot better at me then this. Even something as small as eating lunch at a place that has a playground, even though I don't like the food at the two places by us that have playgrounds. Those are always the places that she recommends, so our kids can have fun.

Brooke has given up A LOT in order to be a mom. I know everyone says this, but it is still true and I respect her so much for what she has sacrificed. She could earn close to 6 figures if she had gone back to work after the kids were born. We could have been out of debt, had the life of our dreams if she had done so. I am so grateful that she chose not to. She knows that being home with our kids is the best thing for them right now. I could not imagine her going back to work and puting our kids in daycare. I'd hate to see that. And I know that she would never be able to do it. A few months ago, she took a weekend trip with a friend of hers. I was basically just an overnight trip. My girls kept asking when their mom would be home. I kept having to tell them. When Reagan woke up the following morning, the first words out of her mouth were "Guess what Dad? Mommy is coming home today". They were so excited when I told them we needed to get into the car and drive to the airport to pick her up. I was a little surprised to see that when Brooke got into the car, she immediately turned to the kids and said, "I missed you so much!" I guess that just shows how much I have underestimated her. I thought for sure she would have had a nice time away from the rigors of her responsibilities here. She was genuine when she said that she didn't like being away from us. That's the kind of mother she is.

When I asked Reagan what she liked best about her mother, she said, "she's my friend and playing with her." I'm sure Elsa and Cohen would say the same thing.

Brooke, I love you so much. I hope you have a very Happy Mother's Day!