Motherhood

Sunday is Mother's Day. Do mothers really pay attention to all those commercials?The commercials are so annoying. How is a one year old going to pay for a diamond necklace? Why do the "mothers" look so beautiful? Try being beautiful when your kid has been throwing up all night. Or when you have been up late waiting for your teen to come home late again. Rather than all the stuff the commercials are pushing I liked the little things my kids made or bought without a commercial suggestion.I used to love the creations that my kids made in grammer school. I often wondered what their teachers got from their kids. We, as children, don't always appreciate our parents. I can't even count the times I heard my kids bemoan their fate by saying "Aw, Mom..." Sometimes we, as mothers, wonder will they ever grow up? Or we find ourselves saying that famous Erma Bombeck line, "Just wait till you have kids of your own!"

Motherhood is not easy. I have heard it said that it is punishment for a few minutes of "pleasure". After that, it is a life long struggle. We watch children grow and learn. We hope that we have been good examples for them. I've heard them say "Thanks Mom" or "I hate you" so many times. Occasionally I even heard "I'm sorry" or "You were right". At that point I wondered who those kids were, cause they could not be mine. Jimmy's Aunt Pat once said that when they are little, they walk on your feet, when they are older they walk on your heart. I have always thought that was a very insightful statement.

I always felt that I never measured up to my mother's standards. She had a very high IQ but she never finished college. What ever she tried seemed to be perfect, at least to me. She made most of my clothes from the time I was little to high school. I was one of the best dressed girls in high school thanks to her. She sang with Les Brown in the early 1940's. I can't sing. When I was in grammer school she to up art to help her quit smoking. Her paintings hang on my walls. Too bad my son who inherited her artistic talent, never uses it. In her mid forties she and my Dad decided to take up golf. She was pretty good. I enjoyed playing with both of them. She was a forward thinking woman, always ahead of her time. I often wonder what she would have thought of her grandchildren had she met them.

I was 22 years old when my mother died of ovarian cancer. For several years we had not really agreed on much. But we made our peace. Funny how teens or young adults would rather not discuss anything with their mother. It's always a fight. She doesn't like anything I do, we think. It is often later when we look back and wish we could talk to her. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. I miss you.