For My Mom

Even though I didn’t always pay attention at the time, my mom was usually right. Her words typically needed to sink and percolate a bit before I realized that, though. Sometimes this process took years– as in, 15 years. Some of her quotes are so eerily like what I would say I can’t help but laugh at with her. Here’s my favorite collection of “mom-isms”, in honor of my mentor and dear friend– my mom.

“Make sure to live with a man before you marry him. Trust me.”

“It always seems to happen that when someone you love passes away, new life comes into the world.”

We miss you, Pappy.

“Carrie, I did NOT dress you like in ugly clothes when you were little. Patterned corduroys were in style back then!” {I don’t have photographic proof of this to post, but she was right. When I looked a second time, those patterned corduroy pants were kinda cute. FOR 1976}.

“Can we go to IKEA? Just to browse a little.”

“It’s important to live on your own after you graduate college. Wait, I don’t mean that. Please come back and live here.”

“You want permission to go to a party? Will the parents be there? I’ll just call to make sure. What do you mean ‘never mind’?”

“I like winter because I can hibernate for months and months.”

“I am so exhausted. Being retired is hard work.”

“Carrie, I think you might be a little too clums… ahhhhh … ummm… what I mean to say is that maybe ballet isn’t exactly the sport for you.”

“Ooooo… a garage sale. That’s okay, we don’t have to stop. You’re stopping? Oh good, I was hoping you would!”

“When life gets overwhelming, I remember what Thomas Jefferson used to say when asked how he managed to do it all: ‘I shut one drawer before I open another.'”

Then there are her “mom-isms” aren’t quotes but rather actions. Here’s what I learned from watching my mom:

Hire a cleaning lady.

When it comes to taking sides between two squabbling sisters, ALWAYS. REMAIN. NEUTRAL.

Eat dinner together– as a family– every night.

Color outside the lines.

Let your kids make forts. Even if it means they use all the throw pillows and good blankets and it takes up an entire room. And it stays up for a week. It’s good for them.

Leave books around for your kids, even the ones they don’t want to read. Chances are, they’ll pick them up and read them anyways. And LOVE them.

Love your grandchildren. FIERCELY.

Mom was by my side during the hardest time of my life, loving my sweet baby even though she was not supposed to survive…

… and when she did make it, my mom was there through the rollercoaster of two extremely difficult years…

…and I know she’ll be there every step of the way for the rest of it, for as long as she can.

I love you, Mom. Thank you for teaching me how to be a mother to my own child, just by example. That type of love isn’t something you can fully grasp until you become a mother yourself, and I want you to know I am grateful for you every single day.

And someday I’ll get it together enough to mail your card in time for Mother’s Day. But you know that. 😉