Hello Mother, Hello Fodder

***This message has been approved by my mom, she’s great that way***

I know that you have read a million touching, meaningful and maybe even profound things about motherhood leading up to tomorrow–Mother’s Day. All excellent! My mom deserves a beautifully written sonnet dedicated to her…no, a play…no, an opera.

She’s a magnificent mom and grandma.

I am going to focus on the aspect of motherhood often shunned on Mother’s Day–the silly things moms do. The small, cute quirks are sometimes the things we remember with the most fondness. Like your mom dancing down the grocery aisle at the supermarket or signing her heart out to Dolly Parton.

These are the stories you tell about your mom at dinner with friends. The things she did that your high school friends still talk about…they are what makes your mom a person who is endearing to you, a girl you would want to be friends with, not just the one who held your hair back when you were getting sick in the toilet.

Here is a list of just some of my mom’s best quirky qualities and funny stories:

-When I was in High School she used to corner me in the hallway with a freshly dosed blush brush in hand–trying in vain to ruin my perfect Goth-like paleness.

-As she serves you any food she has prepared, she will go through its healthy ingredients, earnestly trying to convince you that brownies are a health food, “They have eggs, and whole milk, and fresh walnuts…”

-She can’t just go use the restroom, she always tells you WHY she is going. Like this, “I have to go to the bathroom–I had a big Diet Coke on the way over here.” My brother, Randall, and I do this, too.

-When she has had a few drinks her top lip goes a little numb. This is how my dad tests her sobriety level: “Can you feel this Bon?” If she can’t feel it, she’s cut off for the night.

-She sneaks wheat germ in all of her baked goodies, as if it is a balm for sugary foods.

-She still wants me to grow my hair out and get a perm. She’ll pay for it!

-She likes animals, but is baffled by the way I treat my pets–letting my dogs sleep with me, under the covers! (My mom shakes her red head.) She always says about my dogs, “They have no boundaries.” As if that were a bad thing.

Mom Linkage:

Jib Jab Card I received for Mother’s Day: World’s Greatest Mother. (Great card idea for you dads out there.)

Motherhood William Tell Overture: by Anita Renfroe.

Linking to myself: Things my high school boyfriend is doing according to my mom’s predictions.

I know that for some, Mother’s Day is a hard day because you have lost your moms. Jessica at Doehle Bread wrote this beautiful post about her mom: Mother’s Day.

The mom song: “You’re the love of my life,” by Carly Simon.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!