Pansies from Patrick - A Mother's Day Story

There are moments that make the hard work of motherhood worthwhile. Sometimes they are subtle and hard to describe. Not this week. For the first time, prompted only by an opportunity at school, Patrick arranged a Mother's Day gift for me without any help from his father.

We began giving Patrick an allowance this year to teach him about money and money management. So far, most of the lessons have been in the form of "If you don't put your money somewhere safe, you lose it." He has started to pay attention to the cost of things he would like to buy and to ask for credit from his parents if he wants something and hasn't brought any money with him.

From time to time, things are sold at school during the day: a popcorn fundraiser, a Scholastic book fair, a bake sale on Valentine's Day, etc. During the course of this year, there has been a transition from Patrick asking for money for such sales to his choosing to take money from his piggy bank.

Last Thursday, he showed me some money as he was leaving for school and said he was taking it to school to buy flowers. I had no idea what he was talking about. He was short of time, so I merely reminded him to keep it somewhere safe as he rushed out the door with Andy heading for the bus stop. He came off the bus that afternoon holding two pansies, which he presented to me for Mother's Day. I beamed at him and thanked him as richly as I could while keeping my eye on his siblings, who were bolting in different directions.

One of the flowers hit its peak during the day on Thursday and was wilting slightly by Friday morning. Patrick became worried that it wouldn't last until Mother's Day.

When I met Patrick at the bus stop on Friday, he presented me with a third pansy, saying "In case the other one loses it's flowers before Sunday." Once again, I thanked him less fully than I might have liked due to the chaos on the street corner.

Yesterday morning, I took a quiet moment in the kitchen while Patrick was with me to confirm that he had not involved Andy in the pansy purchasing and let myself show him my pride and joy at what a generous boy he was. This is the first time that he has planned in advance to buy something for somebody else with his money. I am moved by the sweetness of his gesture and look forward to enjoying the pansies in the front garden this summer. I have no doubt that I will smile every time I notice them, thinking of the sweet young boy who gave them to me. My son.