10.16.2012

About a Birthday Mom

As I am raising my kids I am realizing just how much of who I am was influenced by who raised me. I see little quirks of both my parents in my personality. I am also seeing little bits of myself in my kids.

Since it is my Mom's birthday I was thinking about her. Since you are the lucky captive audience, you can get to know her better too!

- If any phrase that is spoken in our house can even remotely be related to a song, Mom is gonna sing it. As teenagers, my brother and I would collapse into a puddle of embarrassment over this. But lo, I have caught myself doing the exact same thing. As we're crossing the street, I hold out both hands and The Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" comes to mind.

- Holidays, especially Christmas, warrant a redecoration of at least the entry way. But Christmas? The entire house transforms into a magical wonderland. From the ceilings to the floors, Santa's own workshop would be hard pressed to rival my Mother's decor.

- Readers may wonder why there isn't a sweet picture of the two of us to accompany this little post. Well, if I am not behind the lens, then Mom is. We are serial photographers. (and prefer to remain behind the camera) The only difference is that while my hoards of photos are merely collecting dust on my hard drive, my Mother has bound volumes of scrapbook layouts showcasing each and every shot.

-You people Instagramming your plate of food? My Mom was doing that in the early nineties. I remember as a kid, if we went out to a nice or funky restaurant we would all have to wait before touching our food for it to be photographed. She is the original Instagram.

- Some how my Mom always manages to keep the house spotless and organized. I am only now realizing just what a feat that is! (as I gaze out across my own kitchen island sprawling with various toys, papers, and an astonishing amount of random miscellanea) I recall some of the chores we were given as kids, one of them was scrubbing the baseboards. From what I hear, this is a neglected area for the rest of the population. Now, a house just doesn't look right without pristine baseboards to me. (I will try to keep from judging the rest of you and your filthy baseboards- ignore mine and I'll ignore yours, deal?)

- One thing I did not get from her? Her amazing ability to do impressive hair styles. My Mom did my hair for prom- and it was gorgeous. I try and do a little braid in the girl's hair? It's a disaster that leaves them looking like they stepped out of a tornado. Looking back at my baby pictures, I was never without a hair bow, curled locks, etc. I was freaking adorable, people. It was all my Mom's doing. I just cannot hack it with hair.

I am sure there is more little things to love about her, but the clock is reminding me that it's time to get dinner into the crock pot. (making dinner at 10:30 just feels wrong.

Happy Birthday, Mom!


Ha! Found a picture! Ignore the fact that the twins are only 3 years old...

Aaaaand an update! I scheduled this very post for the wrong day! Happy Birthday to Mom TOMORROW! (Let's also ignore the level of disorganization going on with this blog as well!) 


4 comments:

  1. I love your mom so much! Happy birthday to the best camp director I ever had!

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  2. That picture is so wonderful! Seriously teared me up a bit seeing your Grandma and Mom. Miss you all :)

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  3. Oh daughter, thank you. Really. As you've probably figured out already, mom's don't get to hear nice things like this very often. I don't know why it is - 'cause I appreciated my mom tons (guess I figured she already knew it). In any event, it's nice to hear. And Janssen and Rebecca-- you girls are sweet! We've had some good times together {{hugs}}.

    Oh, and Ashley? The girls were 2 in this photo (well, 2 yrs 4 months)... (before baby brother) LOL. I have it documented in the scrapbooks.... hee hee!

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  4. So sweet! Not only do we sing songs, we make up songs to sing... the teen years will suck for my children (insert evil laugh here)!

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