You’re the center point of the family and rule the roost. The cruise control when crisis hits. The ultimate game plan coordinator for every function. The nose-wiper, toilet-scrubber, soft shoulder, count-to-three hard liner, and bread winner. You can herd cats and MacGyver anything your family needs in the moment. We tip our hats, rub our full tummies, and wallow in the security of your endless ability to bring home the bacon, shop for it, pay for it and even serve it up nice and crisp, just the way we like it. So, we’d like to recommend that a few times a year, you start celebrating those moments that (secretly) mean so much to you. Let it out. Gather with your fellow mighty moms and tailgate these four events.
First Day of School
There is no need to hide the wild delight you hold in your heart thinking of the moment your passel of offspring open that car door and take that lovely walk onto school grounds. After months of coordinating daily chaos, lunchtime feedings, mess cleanings, keep-them-busy coordinating or, depending on the age range, long sullen hours of teenage disgruntlement, you’re free. Some other adults now have your clan in hand —all day! So, celebrate. Gather the girls, grab a few bottles, bring out the best goblets (because the human wrecking balls aren’t around) and breathe a collective sigh in the silence of your empty house in the morning.
The End of…
About to pay off the house? Sign those divorce papers after a nasty disentanglement? Leave that life-sucking abyss of a job? Send a kid off to college? These are big moments. They’re rare moments. They may even be Super-Bowl size moments. They could have held pain, have a residue of regret, or be filled with personal sacrifice, but now they mark a glorious moment of change for something new and something better, even if it’s just recognizing you raised a kid capable of heading out on their own. Tough decisions made. Job well done. Now gather up some others who get what you’ve been through and tailgate. Sign the papers over toasts of raised shot glasses. Burn the mortgage on the grill. Wear your kid’s graduating tassels (we won’t suggest where), and revel in life moving on to better days.
National Wine Day
Though Global Drink Wine Day has passed (sniffle), there’s 20 more official wine days on the calendar. More than there are months. On the near horizon, there’s Chardonnay Day (May 26), National Wine Day (May 25) and then follows pretty much a holiday for every kind of wine from World Lambrusco Day (June 21) to Pinot Noir Day (August 18). What better reason for moms to congregate? Prefer a cold can of suds? International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day has sadly gone by (March 8) but there’s two or three suds-related holidays every month.
PTA Meetings
Someone’s got to do it. But that doesn’t mean you can’t gather beforehand to lubricate and fill up on anything that bolsters you and your fellow moms (and dads) to endure the drivel and gibberish among the important stuff. You don’t want them banning your favorite childhood book or raising money for nude models in the art class when there’s actual needs to fight for. So, grill something red and hearty to bring out the carnivore in you and drink something soothing that loosens your silver tongue yet keeps you mellow during the inevitable moments (or eons) of drivel. Tailgates transform the worst games into a celebration.