Mother's Day:: My Mom

In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m spending this week writing posts dedicated to the mothers in my life. I’ll have a different post Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Sometimes I struggle to wrap my mind around the mother-daughter relationship and all it means. Especially now, being a mother myself, I spend every single day in awe of the awesome relationships we as women share with each other and our children! Kudos to all the mothers out there for all you do!

Today, I’m writing about my mom. Since there is literally so much I could write, I’ve decided to do a top ten list. So, here are the top ten memories that I share with my mom. Trust me, it was hard to choose just ten, there are many, many more. And, these aren’t really in any particular order. I apologize in advance for the length of today’s post!

#10:: Long locks. I love looking at pictures of my mom when she was young. She had long, dark brown hair. I’ve always thought it was beautiful. I remember it mostly from pictures, but when I think about times when I was very young that’s how I envision her. Then, I look at pictures of when I was three-years-old and had long, beautiful blonde pig-tails. Everyone always says that I look like my dad. But, when I think of ‘our’ long hair, that’s when I think I look like my mom.

#9:: Splash! Every summer when we were kids, mom bought us a family swimming pass to the local campground. It was just one country mile over and we went nearly every day. As soon as mom got home from work we’d load up and head over. We’d often get a quarter to buy a pretzel or some penny candy in the store. She usually didn’t get in, but she sat there evening after evening watching us swim for hours.

#8:: Smile :o) From kindergarten to my senior year, and every year in between, mom took my picture on the first day of school. These days are burned into my memory. I can see my five-year-old self in a dress, clutching a pink book bag and a Rainbow Bright lunchbox with all my might. I can see my teenage self in cut-off shorts and holding a large cup of Mt. Dew, heading off on my last first day of school. I had my best friend take my picture before the first day of class when we moved away to college. Something about it just wasn’t the same, but yet I still needed and wanted that picture taken.

#7:: Supper’s ready! My mom isn’t Betty Crocker {as she so often likes to remind me} but she has always fed us well. We weren’t raised on fast food. I remember my mom cooking almost every evening. Sometimes on Fridays, after our weekly trip to the grocery store, we’d order a pizza. But, for the most part we got a home cooked meal every night. I especially remember Saturday suppers. It was our big meal for the week, mom would put a roast in the oven or bake a chicken. Now, some of my favorite days are spent having supper at mom and dad’s house.

#6:: Amen. Each and every night as a kid I remember mom and us kids saying our prayers and asking God to bless our family. Before she’d tuck us in and give us our last drink of water we’d always say an Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and our special intentions. Sometimes we’d try to drag it out and ask God to bless every single person we knew, but mom tried to keep it relatively short. We went to mass weekly, even on the days when I would try to pretend to oversleep, we somehow still made it on time. I’m grateful and am now doing these same things with my own children.

#5:: Sweep, dust, fold …. Every Friday was clean house day. Mom always would say, “this way it’s out of the way and we can enjoy the rest of the weekend!” I wish this is something I was still doing. My main responsibilities were folding laundry and dusting, both of which I loathed. Even though mom had worked hard all week, she still came home and worked even more. This taught me a lesson. Sometimes I really don’t know how she did it.

#4:: Discipline. I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t a perfect child. I got in trouble my fair share, that’s for sure. I’m sure at times my mom wanted to pull her hair out, but she never did {that I know of any way}. She’d get mad, I’d get punished, I’d try to weasel {beg} my way out of punishment, and the cycle would continue. These definitely are some of my fondest memories, but they are evidence of mom’s unconditional love.

#3:: Co-workers. One summer in college I got a temporary job at the factory where my mom had worked for 20+ years. We were even put on the same shift, third. We ride-shared to work and talked on breaks. I got a first-hand view of the job my mom had been doing for so many years. Sometimes thankless, she always worked hard to provide for us.

#2:: I do! My wedding day holds so many special memories, not only of my husband, but of all the important people in our lives. I put my mom through a lot planning that special day and she was always very accommodating, never saying a bad word. She gave of her time, her money, her energy and patience to ensure that I had the perfect day. And, we did!

#1:: Pink! The two days in my life that I have given birth are by far the best days of my life. My mom was by my side throughout pregnancy, throughout labor, through surgery recovery and very helpful and supportive the following weeks with a newborn. She is a terrific grandmother. I will never forget, as long as I live, my mom’s reaction when I {finally} gave birth to my daughter. We were attempting a hospital vbac 16 months after my son’s c-section birth. I had labored for 29 hours never knowing if it was a boy or girl, but always suspected a boy. When I finally delivered her successfully and we realized it was a girl, I thought my mom was going to hit the ceiling jumping up and down! What a moment.

My mom is definitely one of my best friends and I wouldn’t trade her for the world. Happy Mother’s Day, I love you Mom!