Mother's Day: Stranded at the Mall

Because of the (then) moderately rainy weather, Mom & I decided to run errands at a nearby SM, leaving my dad and my son at home for the meantime.

In the middle of the mall, in the midst of looking at plasticware, we heard a loud crackle outside. WTH?! Was that thunder, heard even in the lower ground floor of the mall? So we went back up and true enough, we came face to face with umbrella-carrying-jacket-wearing people, some of them drenched in rain. So it IS raining -- hard!

We wanted to go home to dad and EJ, but dad was adamant about us travelling in the midst of zero-visibility, wrath-spreading rain. He'd rather we wait for the rain to subside than risk being stranded outside (wow, did I just rhyme?). I guess we should be thrilled, right? More time to shop, more time to relax -- NOT. I guess it's the mother instinct in both of us, that we wanted to throw caution to the winds and go home.

So then mom and I actually decided to go home. We went to the basement parking, put our stuff in, and called dad. "We're going home."
Dad said, "Not yet. It's too dangerous."
I said, "Okay then we're not yet going home."
So much for throwing caution to the (strong) winds.

So as we were trudging back to the mall entrance, POOF. The lights went out. Think dark, wet basement parking, it doesn't exactly give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, does it? I instinctively grabbed mom's hand and pulled her to one side. I knew we were thinking of the same thing: brownout + EJ = not good.

But the rain still wouldn't let up. I wanted to treat her to a mani-pedi, but we were both too eager to go home asap. We ended up eating snacks while passing the time, and zooming back to the car as soon as we heard the rain tame down. Oh and the previously 20min drive home took an hour.

So then I realized, we actually spent the afternoon being what today is supposed to be commemorating -- being Mothers. Spending a better part of the afternoon worried about my kid in his aircon-deprived state while trying to run other errands is so Mommy-ish. Funny, but maybe it fits Mother's Day too, in a panicky sort of way.

Oh, and the wall posts, tags, and text messages from friends and relatives made this day even more significant for me too. I was a very new mom this time last year but this time it feels more special. Maybe it's the added year of internalization? Or maybe because EJ can now show appreciation (and disdain haha) more? Or maybe because EJ can already make me feel like a mother who has done something for him.... At any rate, this day has been a happy day for me, storm and all.

Again, Happy Mother's Day!