I came here to give some random praise but it looks like this has been a hakoras hatov thread. Sorry if I sound out of place but I wanted to praise observanteen for who she(?) seems to be based on her mature and empathetic posts. You sound like a wonderful person.
And as far as my mother a”h and my father a”h, I just second what oomis said. It would make me too sad to write my own now.
mytake – what do mom’s do? One Purim I was 9 days overdue and had bronchitis and 101 fever. I think what I did was entertain 5 little kids and dress them for purim while my husband went to shul for shacharis and magilla.