I have never thought it was much of a big deal for anyone to tell me "happy Mother's Day," and perhaps it is because I just think we should be more grateful for our mothers all the time. But life has a way of getting busy and things get left unsaid, and I know I don't let my own dear mamma know nearly often enough how much of a difference she makes.
If I started in listing all mamma's great deeds, well, we 'd need bifocals before this blog was over. My mom is not the sort who attended every speech contest or came to junior high ball games. She always had a passel of other kids at home to take care of. She found other, better ways to be supportive. We always had a cooked from scratch supper (and often breakfast too). Our clothes were always clean. She played with us on rainy days and taught us read. Even though she didn't make most of those never ending school events, she always came through if I truly needed her to, whether it was taking a nervous 18 year old to state speech finals or helping a stubborn 26 year old plant grass so she could get married in the back yard and then making that girl's wedding dress when she didn't find one to buy.
She wasn't a stay at home most of my growing up years, but she managed so much "housewife" work in the hours between getting home from work and going back again. Once again, it isn't that she did so much, but the grace with which did it. My mom doesn't go in for whining, complaining, or drama. She doesn't walk around with her mouth set in grim lines. Instead she does her best to make our home a place of love and gentleness. Perhaps that is the greatest lesson I learned from her. Attitude. There have been so many times when lesser women would have thrown in the towel or marched around the house making sure that everyone else was as unhappy as she was. But she doesn't.
These days, mamma spends as much time being grandma as she does mom. When Bell came along, she stayed with my mom when I went back to work. Now she takes care of my brother's little ones. My little sis is a senior and graduating, and though she and my youngest brother who is 20 will still be at home, they don't need her to do all the little day to day mom things. Now she does the theoretical mom things, like help us navigate college and career and spouse choices.
I know that I am not very maternal. I fiercely love Bell, but I have to work at the mom thing. I don't know if it came natural to my mom or not. If not, she must be the most dedicated woman in the world, because we all grew up thinking she liked to play candy land and monopoly, picking plums and swimming, sewing our clothes and cooking our meals. We all grew up confident and assured that we were loved and would be taken care of. And even though I am a grown girl and a mamma myself, I still know that she would move heaven and earth for me and mine.
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