Things my Mother taught me

My Mom at age 19...before I arrived on the scene

On this Mother's Day I'm thinking about my Mom.  She's in the next state over and, if I know my brother, she'll be getting some Mother's Day love from at least one of us today.  I sent her a card and we had a good chat on the phone the other night again.  My Mom is one of my favorite people to talk to!  Here are some of the things my Mom taught me.

* Moms can and should play with their kids. Moms should climb on monkey bars and swing on swings and try to play ball (she tended to duck a lot but she was game!)  Moms, when they become Grannies/Greats (she chose that term...she likes being a Great), should play with silly putty and chase their great gran-kids around the yard shooting toy arrows at them or sword fighting!

 

* Moms are sometimes silly creatures.  My Mom loves oddities.  She collects little "critters" that do song/dance numbers or are silly, like an old naked man in a little bathtub statue she keeps in her living room.  She likes to be surrounded by things that make her smile and laugh.

* Moms can have wicked painful pinches if they catch you messing around in church during services.

* Moms can be so pretty and nice and sweet that some of the boys you bring home will develop crushes on her. Which is good because they need someone like her to see what an awesome woman should be like when they grow up!  She still is charming the men in my life to this day!

* Moms will use guilt, even to try to win at cards sometimes.  We're on to her.  She still tries.

* Moms can throw tantrums. Oops!  Maybe that's more me than my Mom!  Tho it is rather silly when my Mom gets so mad she tries to smack you...she's not very good at it.  My siblings will understand exactly what I'm talking about when I say "flailing hands of fury".

* Moms are not saints.  My Mom isn't.  She taught me how to live.  How to be real.  How to admit when things are tough, to even whine/cry about it but how finally you have to get up, dust off and take care of business.  How it was ok not to be perfect.  It's more about how you fix problems than staying out of them.  Life has problems.  You gotta deal.

* Moms are tough.  Even when it cost her, my Mom would try to do what was right.  She'd even admit sometimes that she didn't want to but she would still forge ahead to do what seemed right to her, even if it was hard.  Even if it hurt. She may seem like a softie most of the time, but there is steel in her spine.

* Moms are capable of unconditional love.  Even if she's really mad at you, she'll still love you.  Fiercely.  And you never have to doubt it, though you might have to put up with "the look" quite a bit.

I'm REALLY LUCKY I got to be my Mom's kid!!!