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How did last Mother's Day go? How long did it take the hazmat crew to clean up the kitchen after the kids made breakfast? Did you ever get that pancake batter out of the stove vent? Or was the morning spent in a packed restaurant where Mom had to keep shushing the fidgeting kids?

You could make things easy on everybody this year at the Mother's Day Brunch at the Bayside Grange on Sunday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ($15 adults, $5 kids under 12). The whole gang can chow down on brunchy goodness (vegetarian dishes, too) and pastries without leveling your kitchen. The bluegrassy Kindred Spirits, the bluesy Anna Hamilton and the (one assumes rage-y) Raging Grannies will be playing, which is both entertaining and perfect for drowning out your little angels. Forgot a gift? Bid on something pretty from the silent auction (that is called a spontaneous gesture, not procrastination), which, along with the meal, benefits the Emma Center and its work helping women recover from trauma. Mom is guaranteed to be down with that.

Clean your plates and head north to the Westhaven Center for the Arts for the Spring Fling from 1 to 4 p.m. (free, no dogs). Aid your digestion dancing to the Compost Mountain Boys and Tim Breed. Keep moving until you've got some room for the barbecue that will be smoking up the place. All that dancing and the kids' activities should wear the little ones out for the ride home — it might even get you an early bedtime. That's like a Mother's Day miracle.