Mother's Day

I have learned a lot from my mom. I know that not all of my siblings had the same mom that I did (literally, yes, they did, but they all had different experiences than I did.) but the mom I had was pretty good. Later I became a teenager and I changed my mind (I think she changed her mind about me about the same time) but she was allowed to have rules that didn't always make sense because that's what parents are for, right?

I remember helping her cook and learning to cook at a very young age. I was a master at macaroni and cheese before I was eight years old. I was adept at cooking as soon as I could read. I figured if you could read a recipe you didn't really have to practice making something, you just followed the recipe and BAM! there it was. That's what my experience was anyway. Later I learned that practice makes it more enjoyable and I could really use some enjoyment when it comes to cooking. Anyway, that's not what I was writing about today.

I learned about trees and birds from her. She had books that she would try to read but when I asked questions she would patiently show me her book and different species that I might see in the area. When I moved away from home I was surprised at how many people DON'T know what kind of tree that random tree that looks so interesting is. "But haven't you lived here your whole life?" I learned that it wasn't something most people knew inherently.

I learned how to clean. My favorite way to clean is to not get it dirty. Now if I can just get the rest of my family to feel the same way... I'm not constantly cleaning, I'm definitely NOT a clean freak, but my house is clean enough and it doesn't make people sick (that I know of)

I learned some nutritional healing. I know that variety and raw foods are great for your body and they can often help with different ailments. I learned that not enough iron makes you tired (as does an excess of sugar or salt) and that red meat, oatmeal, and potatoes were good sources of iron.

I learned to look things up. You can't be the master of every skill and know everything. You probably will forget things. If you remember how or what to look up though, you can remember. You might suspect things are a certain way, but then you might look it up in the dictionary, an encyclopedia and verify or correct your thoughts. As a result of this I am usually right about things, so don't disagree with me unless you are ready to be proven wrong.

I learned how to speak. Trying to teach my child how to speak makes me wonder how people are able to learn so many words. There are so many words that mean the same thing or that describe the same person. For instance, these words might describe me on any given day: Mother, sister, Aunt, daughter, niece, granddaughter, cousin, friend, wife, woman, girl, adult, grown-up, hottie(ok, so that one isn't me describing me that way) teacher, married, and those could describe many of the people I know as well.

I learned that just because a question is hard to answer doesn't mean you don't get an answer. I think she must have prayed for guidance with some of the questions I asked because she answered them accurately and age appropriately. One time I asked my mom if sex felt good before I really even knew what it was. She told me "it does when you really love your husband" Wow, that is a really good answer. I just hope I can find accurate answers that my children can understand. It's kind of hard for me when my husband believes something that is incorrect because the adults in his life told him something inaccurate. And then that leads to him questioning me and then I have to prove him wrong, so lets not have any more of that.

She taught me about respect. She taught me one way to show respect was to use the correct titles for people who are older than you. I learned to say Aunt and Uncle and Grandma and Granddad, Mr and Mrs, Brother and Sister, and that's the way it is. I learned to say "ma'am" and "sir".

Being a mother, myself, I have learned that one person can't teach another EVERYTHING they need to know. I am glad my mother tried and also spent time with others who could share their knowledge even if it was different from her own. I learned a lot from my mom and I'm glad that I can look back and see some of the positive things we did together. No matter what happens, I will always have these memories of her. What memories do you have of your mother?