Little Lila was a bit smaller than the other 6 year old girls on her soccer team. But what she lacked in intimidation she made up for in effort. With pigtails flying in the air, she skipped around the field even when she didn’t know where to find the ball. Lila’s family provided quite a cheering section all lined up in camping chairs on the sidelines. Mom and Dad sat side-by-side wearing team t-shirts with diet-cokes in hand. Jenna, the eldest of the four kids, but just 13 years old, did not understand the value of soccer. Her world revolved around art and she passed the time at the game creating another contribution to her portfolio. Mason, the next in line, loved the game of soccer most when he played but less when he watched. His portable game system kept him busy during the time-outs. The youngest, Samuel, had his own chair but sitting was not his skill. At 4 years old, he had not quite learned the art of entertaining himself. He shuffled about from one family member to another, being met with different levels of patience.

When the soccer game ended, the family packed up their gear with the precision of a scout troop and loaded the SUV. Lila’s coach circled the girls for a last minute speech before letting the girls leave the field. He knew he was on thin ice with every mom waiting for their daughter. Soccer demanded a great deal from these young ladies, but the coach feared a game on Mother’s Day afternoon might have put him in the doghouse. He led the final cheer and sent his young teammates to hug their moms. Lila had good intentions of hugging her mother, but she was distracted by the excitement of leftover doughnuts she brought for her team. If she spread out the left-over doughnuts and ate just one per day they could last the week!

Dad’s voice rose above the family clamor on the ride home. “Listen kids, I’m ordering pizza when we get to the house. Who wants what?” Even though Dad knew the response, it never kept him from asking. Secretly, he longed for the day when pizza could have another topping besides alfredo cheese. The SUV pulled into the garage and Jenna helped Samuel out of his seat. Mom sent Lila to the shower. Mason transferred to the more sophisticated game system in the family room and Dad looked on the fridge for the pizza delivery phone number.

The family was brought back together with the sound of the doorbell. Sam was the first to reach the front door. Mason opened the door to find the pizza man with pie in hand, “Special delivery for someone special like you!” And he lowered the pizza to Sam’s eagerly waiting eyes and hands. Dad paid the man, took the pizza from Sam and went to the kitchen counter. Dad commanded the kids sit at the table as he placed two slices on two paper plates. To their surprise, he handed one to mom and kept one for himself. As he placed the remaining on the table he announced that he and mom would be eating in the car on their way to get ice cream. “I’m taking mom to get her favorite dessert for a Mother’s Day treat. Jenna, you’re in charge. We’ll be back in few.” Mom grabbed her purse as Dad grabbed the keys and they left without fanfare as the kids focused on dinner.

Jenna, feeling responsible, was trying to equally distribute remaining pieces of cheese pizza. Lila, with hair still wet from the shower, was the first to recognize the lack of Mother’s Day celebration. “We should do something nice for mom.” A wide range of suggestions flew around the table and then Jenna, in dramatic Jenna fashion, flung her arms in the air and declared her wonderful suggestion.

“Let’s make mom a night shirt! We’ll decorate one of Dad’s t-shirts! Mason, quite naturally questioned the suggestion but Jenna was persistent. She picked up Samuel, now standing in his chair, sat him down again and looked to Mason with a pointed finger. “Keep Sam in his seat until I get back.” Mason, now in charge, began to wipe Sam’s face and hands and asked Lila if she wanted her last piece of pizza as he picked it up and took a bite. Fortunately, Lila was done. Mason brought the kitchen trash can to the edge of the table and it was cleared in a couple of passes with his arm, pizza box and all.

Jenna returned to the kitchen table with a large white t-shirt in one hand and a permanent marker in the other. She smoothed out the t-shirt and wrote in bubble letters, “Hugs 2 last all night.” After she traced her open hand on each side of the t-shirt, she instructed each child to place their open hands on different places on the shirt as she traced. (Younger children are not permitted to use permanent markers.) Jenna beamed with the thought that their hand prints would hug mom while she slept.

Mason, not to be outdone, claimed an assignment. “I’ll do decorations.” But there were no balloons. No streamers. No party hats. What could he do? Mason went to each bathroom and claimed every roll of toilet paper in the house. He went to the garage and located the duct-tape. Then Mason went to work in the kitchen. He