Happy Birthday to Mom
As I am sure everyone knows, it was Mom's birthday yesterday. To celebrate the occasion I thought we should all write some of our favorite memories about Mom. I, being the best daughter, will go first:
I was riding my bike home from my friends house when I was caught in a rain storm. It was sudden and intense, and by the time I got home, I was soaked and shivering. When I walked in the door, I smelled the delicious aroma of vanilla and chocolate. COOKIES! Mom had made dozens of chocolate chip cookies just for us. Now every time it rains I crave chocolate chip cookies and think of Mom.
This next one is more about Mom having those super powers that moms have:
I was twelve years old and desperately wanted to go to the mall as all tweens do, but Mom said I wasn't old enough to walk to the mall, and cross that busy street, all by myself. Begrudgingly I listened to her because I had already been hit by a car once, even though my friends really wanted to go. I told them I couldn't go, and they left without me. I started walking home by myself, and about halfway back down Hillsdale I got mad, and decided to turn back and go to the mall anyway. This proved a fateful decision.
Feeling brave and defiant, I stood on the sidewalk at the top of Hillsdale and waited until the cars let up so I could dash across. I would just tell Mom that one of my friends' parents had given us a ride.
I was so sneaky.
I saw my chance and ran to the median. I stopped to catch my breath because it was a little scarier than I thought, plus more cars were coming in the opposite direction. So I had to wait in the middle of the road. While I was standing there, trapped like a rat, I saw the bulging eyes of a shocked Mom staring at me from inside the van coming my way.
Oh Crap!
I turned around and ran back across the street, back to the side of safety. I glanced behind me to see mom making a sharp illegal U-Turn. Who was this crazy law-breaking woman! I ran for it. I stayed off the main road and ran through the trees and backyards of the nearby houses. I made my way down a random culdesac to catch my breath. Ha ha, victory was mine. If she confronted me later, I would just say it was definitely not me, and she would feel too embarrassed to say any more.
I skulked out like a cautious fox and headed back to the road just when Mom came racing down the dead end. I don't know how she did it, but the side door flew open and she pulled me inside, all while sitting at the wheel.
Lesson learned: Moms have secret powers that alert them when their kids are breaking the rules. They hone in on your exact location to ground your sorry butt. BEWARE! (PS, good job Mom--I deserved it.)
4 comments:
I remember mom making grilled cheese and tomato soup for me when I was sick, yum still a winning combo. I also remember mom being at almost all of my soccer games and wrestling matches while lugging a bunch of kids around. And one time she used her supper powers, or sneaky powers to bust me. I had cut school with my friend and actually had many near run-ins with her throughout the day. When the school day was over I thought I was victorious. I told mom I went to my friends house after school and needed a ride home. She acted clueless to my cutting. When she came to pick me up she greeted me with a smile, said "Hi, and oh yeah you're grounded." Good work mom, but how did she know?
My favorite memories of mom...
Well, there seems to be a theme so let me continue it. It has always impressed me that in many crisis situations (usually relating to her kids) mom has kept a cool head and made good decisions. I think that many of us in the family have this same ability.
When I was about 12, I was cleaning out my guinea pig's glass cage. I brought it out back and there were nasty droppings on the bottom of the cage, so I turned it over and was planning on banging the bottom of the cage with my bare foot to loosen the stuff up so it would drop onto the ground. Instead my foot went crashing through the glass.
I went inside and showed mom the 3 inch long and 1 1/2 wide gash in my foot. She calmly asked me what happened and I told her. I am not sure how she organized it, but she brought me to RCHP and arranged care for the rest of the kids.
When the Doctor was shooting the Novocain directly into my cut, I started crying so mom came over and held my hand, and she was talking to me trying to keep me calm. After a few needles, it still was not numb, but they started to sew my cut up and it hurt even more. Mom stayed with me, but I saw tears in her eyes. Finally, I was stitched up and we went home.
Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. The cut become infected and it became extremely painful. I couldn't sleep one night - even with the medication they gave me. Mom stayed with me and read stories to me until I fell asleep. Being a parent now, I can understand how she must have felt having to watch her son go through extreme pain and thinking there is nothing that she could have done except read stories. As she was reading, it was very soothing and calmed me so I could fall asleep. That was the worst night, but my cut started to get better after that.
Mom’s ability to sniff out misbehavior...well unfortunately for all the younger kids I think we got away with more and in return ruined it for you. After us they were ALWAYS suspicious and you didn't have a chance.
Other good memories...
Mom coming home with another baby
Playing kid games that I play with Calvin (wheels on the bus, etc.)
Mom's Christmas sugar cookies
My nights out to dinner with her
Birthday cakes she would make
one of my fondest memories was her taking me to a wrestling tournament and eating a bagel and egg sandwich before it started at a little bagel store.
My favorite stories include classics like: crawling on the parking lot of Boston Chicken (Market), bursting into my classroom yelling, "Chris Clark, Chris Clark," working with her at 3 different jobs, and any cutting school and being hunted down story. I remember all of the sports stories too: gymnastics, wrestling, soccer, and even that stupid dance class. For some reason I just remembered going to that little strip mall that had Mr Pizza (it was behind Churchill). Mom would buy me a Dove ice cream bar and we would get a tuna pita sandwich from a little sandwich place. We ate there quite a few times.
Post a Comment