Give Mom any task and she’ll make magic happen.

She whips up dishes from scratch. She makes everyone’s schedules meet. She creates order in chaos. She does all of these and more in a way you’ll wonder if she also has the same 24 hours as you do.

For her family, she’ll always go the extra mile.

If you ever wonder if she’ll give herself the same amount of magic on a day that’s specifically for her, read on.

This is the picture of Mother’s Day if only Mom had it her way. You just might be surprised.

She doesn’t need an alarm clock to wake up in the morning. On most days, it’s the deluge of tasks and chores that pushes her out of the bed. In the case of a new mom, it’s her baby’s cry that does it.

She is paradoxical. She wishes for more time to rest, yet she wants to be present during her family’s waking hours – preparing their breakfast, packing their lunch, and handing their uniforms with a surge of pride. She paces back and forth the living room, dining room, bedroom, and kitchen with all the stamina of someone who had an eight-hour sleep.

Believe it or not, she would still want to do this on any day – even on Mother’s Day.

But she’d take it slow. She would savor her morning coffee and consume it in silence. She would remind herself that it’s Sunday anyway and it’s no ordinary day.

On a regular day, she makes a thousand decisions of varying scope and scale. It weighs her down more times than she cares to admit.

“Mom, have you seen my…?”

“Mom, where did you put my…?”

“Mom, were you able to do…?”

She wishes for these questions to cease existing even for one good hour, yet she wants to be the one to provide the answers. She loves being involved in her family’s life, down to the smallest details. Sometimes, the answers come easy. At times, they don’t.

Then, there are days with more questions than answers.

On Mother’s Day, she wouldn’t wish for all the questions and tasks to go away. She would just like to be offered options, or to temporarily be relieved of the big duties so she could think a little less even for a day.

No one tells her she’s not allowed to take naps nor spend longer hours in the bathroom. But a much-needed nap would send her thinking about the time that passed, worrying about the amount of work she could’ve finished instead. An unhurried bath time may be a necessity, but a luxury for her on a regular day.

On Mother’s Day, she’d love to nap sans all the mom guilt, and to fix herself a little longer than usual.

Maybe someone to tell her to take her time for once would be a nice icing on the cake.

For a mom with much older kids, breakfast, lunch, and dinner with her husband or with herself is the tune she sings everyday. Not that she complains – she loves the intimacy of heart to heart talks and the nostalgia of moments passed.

She cleans rooms unoccupied, and washes only a couple of tableware.

On Mother’s Day, oh how she’d love to see all seats in the dining table filled. She’d love to bring together every chair there is in the house to accommodate family and friends.

This time, she won’t worry so much about the mountain of dishes to wash. In fact, she’d even bring out all her china with gusto. Her heart would sing with the sound of everyone’s voice and laughter. She would definitely indulge herself in every served meal that seemingly became much tastier with her loved ones around.

In the middle of a weekday, she looks at the clock and counts down how many hours more until bedtime. She even calculates it with the amount of energy she has left for the day.

But when the little ones are tuck into bed, she chooses to stay up a little more so she can finally have time for herself. This is one of the reasons why her nights are longer.

On Mother’s Day, there’s no “work” for her to clock out from, but she’d love an early bedtime – ironically, not necessarily to get sleep – but to spend as much time as she can for herself. She knows she needs it, but she always feels like she’s not given permission to.

So she will choose to allow herself the slow time, the nap time, the with-you time, and the me-time – if only she can take Mother’s Day into her own hands.

For her, it’s where her own magic can be found.