Mother S Day

A few days before Mother's Day, 20-year-old Jessica Lynn Lee got into an argument with her mother about caring for Lee's baby and took off. It was a familiar, if infrequent, scene between them. They would fight over small stuff - using the computer, following house rules - and Lee would leave. She always came home to Brooklyn Park a few days later, though, sometimes spending the night in the woods near her house or with whomever she met along the way, while her mother cared for infant Maygan.

A few days before Mother's Day, 20-year-old Jessica Lynn Lee got into an argument with her mother about caring for Lee's baby and took off. It was a familiar, if infrequent, scene between them. They would fight over small stuff - using the computer, following house rules - and Lee would leave. She always came home to Brooklyn Park a few days later, though, sometimes spending the night in the woods near her house or with whomever she met along the way, while her mother cared for infant Maygan.

I AWOKE with childlike excitement last Father's Day, knowing that it was probably the only day my kids would express gratitude without wanting something in return. Somehow this one day makes a year's worth of trials and tribulations seem like a good deal.I felt an inner smile as the radio disc jockey said, "Let's send this out to all the dads this morning." Then he played the late Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle," a song about a father's biggest failure in life: spending so much time wrapped up in his life that he neglects his child.

Happy  Mother's Day  dear readers, If you are a mom or a grandmother, you hopefully will celebrate Sunday surrounded by loved ones. Mother's Day  is the single most popular day to dine out - how about a Havre de Grace restaurant - or make long-distance telephone calls. It is the third most popular holiday to send greeting cards. Anna Jarvis, a 45-year-old Philadelphian spinster and insurance clerk, was inspired to create Mother's Day after the death of her mother. With the financial backing by Philadelphia department store tycoon, John Wanamaker in 1907, Anna dedicated her life to fulfill her mother's dream of a national holiday to honor mothers everywhere.

Mom wouldn't want you to spend your scarce dollars on her. But you can spend the day with her and enjoy some free events. Baltimore County Golf is offering a free round of golf at two public courses, Greystone or Woodlands. The deal requires that mom be accompanied by at least one other fee-paying adult. Also, MrFreeStuff.com, a blog that writes about, well, free stuff, has these suggestions: A walk among the greenery on National Public Gardens Day. Free entry on May 11, not Mother's Day, at participating gardens . In Maryland, that's Adkins Arboretum, but you also can drive down to D.C. to go to Smithsonian Gardens and Tudor Place Historic House and Garden.

You still have time to plan a Mother's Day brunch. But you might not have to bother. According to a new survey, your mother might prefer to make the plans herself. The survey, published by Open Table Inc., says that 65 percent of surveyed mothers intend to make Mother's Day reservations themselves. Fifty-eight percent of the Open Table members surveyed said they were planning to dine out for brunch on Mother's Day, but a surprising 39 percent said they were going out for dinner instead and about 25 percent said they'd be going out for more than one meal.

Regina Friend will don her son's ceremonial cap Thursday morning and take footsteps that were supposed to be his. The mere idea of those steps gives her chills, but she will take them. Her only child worked 41/2 years to earn a diploma from Temple University, and she will collect it, proud as any other parent in the room. "He's not here to accept it," the Cockeysville resident said. "So as his mother, and I'm still his mother, I need to get it for him. " Last August, Roswell Friend — Dulaney High graduate, college athlete, selfless friend, soon-to-be Temple alum — went for a run over a Philadelphia bridge and never came back.

IF YOU are concerned about crime and other quality-of-life community issues, the Linthicum Shipley Improvement Association meeting on Wednesday is a must.The meeting is at 7: 30 p.m. in the Band Room of Linthicum Elementary School.Capt. Emerson Davis, commander of the Northern District Police Station, will discuss the recent spate of armed robberies and other crimes in his speech, "In what ways can the police department help our community?"Also invited are state Sen. C. Edward Middlebrooks and District 32 Dels.

It was Mother's Day, and the staff of the independent-living community where my mother resides had arranged a nice luncheon, with roses for all the mothers. When a cherubic child with golden ringlets pressed a flower into my hand, and I politely refused it, she became confused. No wonder, since it was assumed by everyone that, of course, all adult women in attendance were mothers At fifty-something I am an adult but not a mother. And though some will gasp in horror, I consider that to be my greatest achievement as a conservationist (although finding the first saw-whet owl ever reported in my part of Virginia ranks pretty high, too)

This Mother's Day, I'd like to reflect on one of my most spectacular maternal flops, executed just last weekend, on the occasion of my 8-year-old daughter's near-First Communion. Anna woke up and told me her throat was sore. That's just pollen, I assured her. Later, she said she felt like she was going to throw up. Nerves, I said. She was scheduled to do a reading at the service. I got her into the lovely white eyelet dress and veil my mom had sewn and sent her downstairs, where oohing and aahing from an aunt and two sets of grandparents seemed to cure all that ailed her. At the church, she filed in just fine with all the other children.

It was an embarrassment of riches for me this Mother's Day, I'm not going to lie. All I really wanted was to spend time with my husband and our sons -- and to get a picture of me with the boys. I take the vast majority of the pictures in our household, but I don't appear in that many of them. I got all of that and more, including waffles for breakfast, my favorite Thai food for dinner, farmer's market cupcakes for dessert, a card on whose envelope my 3-year-old wrote "Mommy" all by himself.

Just in time for Mother's Day, your article on the mother of the young man who inexplicably committed suicide ("Dulaney graduate's mother will accept his college diploma from Temple," May 9) was a clear and strong wake up call to all mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends of those suffering from depression or other problems. My own 25-year-old son from Parkville, successful on the outside, committed suicide last month, having said nothing to show he felt so burdened. Suicide needs to be rejected and spoken of openly in the public square.

We get busy. We have work to do. We have long days crowded with chores and commitments, and we get caught up in things that seem in the moment so important - a project, a decision, a purchase, a deadline. And this is your life, and it moves faster than you expected it would. Before you know it, you're not a kid anymore; your parents are gone and you're the only adult in the room. Everyone experiences this differently, and at different times. Some of you might have lost a parent when you were teenagers, or in your 20s, or 30s. Or maybe you're in your 50s now and just getting used to the absence of your mother or father, or a beloved aunt or grandparents - the elders you thought would be around forever.

You still have time to plan a Mother's Day brunch. But you might not have to bother. According to a new survey, your mother might prefer to make the plans herself. The survey, published by Open Table Inc., says that 65 percent of surveyed mothers intend to make Mother's Day reservations themselves. Fifty-eight percent of the Open Table members surveyed said they were planning to dine out for brunch on Mother's Day, but a surprising 39 percent said they were going out for dinner instead and about 25 percent said they'd be going out for more than one meal.

Mom wouldn't want you to spend your scarce dollars on her. But you can spend the day with her and enjoy some free events. Baltimore County Golf is offering a free round of golf at two public courses, Greystone or Woodlands. The deal requires that mom be accompanied by at least one other fee-paying adult. Also, MrFreeStuff.com, a blog that writes about, well, free stuff, has these suggestions: A walk among the greenery on National Public Gardens Day. Free entry on May 11, not Mother's Day, at participating gardens . In Maryland, that's Adkins Arboretum, but you also can drive down to D.C. to go to Smithsonian Gardens and Tudor Place Historic House and Garden.

Regina Friend will don her son's ceremonial cap Thursday morning and take footsteps that were supposed to be his. The mere idea of those steps gives her chills, but she will take them. Her only child worked 41/2 years to earn a diploma from Temple University, and she will collect it, proud as any other parent in the room. "He's not here to accept it," the Cockeysville resident said. "So as his mother, and I'm still his mother, I need to get it for him. " Last August, Roswell Friend — Dulaney High graduate, college athlete, selfless friend, soon-to-be Temple alum — went for a run over a Philadelphia bridge and never came back.

Twenty-two parents owing nearly $328,000 in back child support were arrested late last week during the fifth annual raid by the Baltimore City Sheriff's Office, officials said. The child support sweep is typically held the week before Mother's Day. This year, 17 deputy sheriffs took part in the two-day raid that started at 4:00 a.m. on Thursday and Friday. While most of the offenders were men, five women were taken into custody, the highest number since the sweeps began, Captain Sam Cogen said Sunday.

When Cassandra Tancil arrives at La Petite Academy day care center with her two children, she looks like a woman in the middle of a list of things to do.It is a breezy morning and she is carrying light jackets for 4-year-old Jillian and 6-year-old Evan and she is asking them to hang up the jackets, but while she is asking, she is doing it herself.The children have already drifted away from her, distracted by their friends, a breakfast snack and a room full of kid-sized stuff.She says, "Remember to put on your listening ears for the teacher," but the listening ears must still be in the children's pockets.

Jada Pinkett-Smith is inviting the world to listen in on an intimate family conversation with her daughter and her mother. The three generations -- Pinkett-Smith, Willow Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Jones -- sat down this year around a round, red table and taped the talk that ensued. They just released the trailer for the short film they made from the discussion which they're calling the "Red Table Talks. " The Baltimore-born actress and her family are calling it "an intimate and honest conversation about love, life, fame, and family.