Mother's Day Got Me Thinking...

It seems obvious, but isn't it amazing the way becoming a mother makes you appreciate your own mother in a whole new way? And then becoming a mother of a toddler makes you appreciate and suspect super-human powers in your own mother. How did my mom do it?

Reasons I suspect super-human powers in my mother:

1. Mom had terrible pregnancies. My parents laugh and joke about the many times Dad had to support her over the toilet because she didn't even have the energy to throw-up without help. In spite of this, she had six children. I thought that was amazing, but now I'm wondering who could do that while she's got other kids to take care of and a husband who has always worked more hours than should be legal...nobody without special powers...

2. Mom was a nurse and studied dentist-assisting things for a while, but has no high credentials. In spite of that, she is a total genius with people. She reads people like the back of a cereal box and she instinctively adapts her parenting style to the needs of each individual kid. She's always tried to teach us girls to "keep our emotions out of it" and as her kids get married off she makes it her policy to stay out of things. She tells us that she only wants to hear the good things about our husbands, because she wants to keep thinking they are perfect. (The exception is if they are hitting us.) She's too smart for somebody without something super-human going on...

Mom with all her girls except Mer, who was probably off being married and adult-like.

3. Mom is hilarious. I remember when I was about 16 and realized my mom had a personality...an adorable and spunky one. She's very proper and all that, but she's SO cute and funny! I didn't know mom's could be so serious about their job (of motherhood) and yet so fun-loving at the same time. Example: Even though she's really kind and never gossips, she'll say things like, "You girls think you can eat anything you want because you're going to look like me the rest of your lives, but you can't, you don't have my body!" I guess it's not a super-power, but it's great.

Isn't she cute? That's my cardigan she's wearing.

4. ALWAYS right. Mom is right even when she shouldn't be. When I was in school, my mom would watch me walk to the door in flip flops and then say to me, "you'd better put real shoes on, it's going to rain." No matter how gorgeous the weather, no matter what teh meteorologists said, it would then be FORCED to rain. She always did this to me. A more recent example was when Cadence was born the perfect child--she slept when she should, played when she should... calm as ever... and mom said, "Just wait till she turns 18 months-you'll have a little fireball on you." Well, thanks a lot, mom. You did it again. How does she do it? I hope I learn that one as the years go on.

5. Mom is a mom for all. She is so kind and sweet. She doesn't try to be a mom to all. She just makes her home so inviting and comfortable, and is always so welcoming and encouraging, all our friends that have come to visit us, esp. those who came because they were at college and away from their homes, just think of her as their mom-away-from-mom.

6. Mom's house is SO clean and comfortable. How she keeps it that way and does everything else...and she's never had a cleaning lady or any help (other than me, and I am a great vacuumer.)

7. Mom has hearing that would impress the animal kingdom. One time I whispered, ever-so-quietly, so quietly I could barely hear myself, "I know you kissed a boy" to my younger sister who was standing RIGHT next to me. Mom--standing across the kitchen--whipped around and looked shocked... And Mel looked at me like she was going to kill me. All witnesses agree it was impossible... but she heard exactly what I said. This happened often. She could hear us from three stories away in the middle of the night...I promise. Uncanny.

8. Mom is a tireless Grandma. She is great with Cadence and my other nieces. She is helpful in every way, including not being overbearing or trying to tell you everything she already knows. She waits until the right time to give mothering advice, and if it seems that we already have our own system, she keeps it to herself, even if its not the way she would do it. That's hard even for me, and I don't have much under my belt yet!

When Mom came out to help us with newborn Cadence.

Mom, you are amazing. I am trying so hard to give my child(ren) the great childhood and little pearls of wisdom, and good attitude that you and Dad gave to us. It's already harder than you made it seem. I love you.

Mom, I can't be you. Let's move on to April.

Spencer's mom is also super-human. Do you know the pressure of being married to a guy who grew up with a mother who had six boys, one girl, moved every two years--mostly overseas, travelled extensively WITH all of her children and never shied away from ANY adventure? The pressure of being the daughter-in-law of a woman who is trained to be a concert pianist, who took wind-surfing lessons in Puerto Rico when she was 8 months pregnant with her 4th, went bungee-jumping in New Zealand with her ALMOST 12-year-old son? She's climbed Kilimanjaro (when she was old enough for Spencer to be 18). She's flown with seven young children and no husband (she has one, he just was working at the time) from singapore to California multiple times.

Spencer and April climbing ruins in Cambodia.

Oh, and this woman can afford a lot of things, but she is a great bargain hunter, and frugality is a virtue to her...one that she is REALLY good at. That makes being married to her son a little hard sometimes :) (I honestly thought I was frugal...). This is a woman who's calendar is so packed with things that it looks like...uh, it looks extremely overwhelming. I"m not kidding. Her calendar looks like a joke, it's so packed. But she does it....every month! I'm under the pressure of living up to the expectations of a mother who's children know that on the grading scale, "B is for Bad".

Cadence with Ma-maw Clive in a hostel in Mexico.

By the way, she instantly memorizes a phone number as soon as she sees it. She remembers zip codes, too. She knows SO much. Her memory is sharp as a tack (a sharper than average tack), her ability to juggle a million things is super-human, and yet, she is such a sweet woman. Always considerate of others. Always unassuming and never snooty or hoity-toity (she deserves to be). She treats me just like her daughter, and is extremely loving to her grand-daughters. It's a lot of pressure to be married to her son, but THANK GOODNESS to her for raising such an amazing man--in my eyes, the closest thing to perfect that there is. Thanks, Mom. I owe so much to you. In spite of the pressure I feel of living up to your standard (Ne-e-e-ver gonna happen), you've raised a son who is smart enough to know it's impossible...so it's not so bad to be your daughter-in-law.

Mom O and Mom C, I love you both.