With Mother's Day just past, I was thinking about my own mother and all she does. One day a year to celebrate mom is really not enough!
My mother is my best friend, confidant, helper, supporter, advisor, teacher, and so much more! There is nothing she wouldn't do to help, if asked, and often anticipates a need or just does something special "for me out of the blue." Mom's are the most unappreciated and "underpaid" workers around...and wow, do they work!!! Even though I thank mom nearly every day and tell her I love her...it could never be enough! I would like to take a moment to thank my mom, Ann Smith, for everything she is and everything she does, for me and everyone else around her. She is truly a wonderful, one-of-a-kind, loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, wife, and friend to her family and those around her. THANK YOU MOM, I LOVE YOU!
Here's an article I ran across: Appreciating mom comes in adulthood
Mother's Day. It's a nice thought. If we were perfectly honest, it would be more like Mother's Hour or Mother's Moment -- however long it takes to consume a meal and open a gift. After that, your honorable status immediately plummets back down to sock washer, toilet scrubber and finder of all lost things.
I'm not complaining. My family made me feel very special this Mom's Day. It's just that kids can't help themselves. They are born into the world, believing themselves to be the sun, with all grown-ups circling them like obliging planets.
Dependence on adults is misconstrued by the child to be worship by adults. The child thinks, "Whenever I cry, the big people bring me whatever I want to make me happy. I must be their god. I will bring purpose to their lives by giving them many demands."
So, the child sets about keeping the parents busy by calling for food, drink, toys and attention.
New parents often are shocked by this blatant selfishness. I have three, and I'm still surprised when my 5-year-old shouts from his bed, "Hey, Mom, where's my chocolate milk?" He actually expects me to drop everything, race down to the kitchen, prepare him a drink and serve it to him in bed. Nothing exists beyond his needs.
Parents, of course, see the bigger picture and immediately begin the long, grueling task of widening their children's scope of thought to include others.
I'm told the self-centeredness lasts into the teen years, and sometimes into the college years, where some view tuition as a duty performed solely by the parent.
The Times Herald on Sunday published essays written by children about their mothers. I was one of three judges. Most of the submissions started with this sentence: "My mom is the greatest because she is always there for me."
That declaration is enough to prove my point. But the self-absorbed comments get even more outrageous. Here are a few:
"My mom does almost anything I ask."
"She takes me where I want to go."
"She cooks me anything I want."
"She lets mostly anybody spend the night."
"She only wants me to have a good time."
"She will pay for my college."
"She is even going to pay for my car when I grow up."
There were a few essays where it was obvious the parent was working hard to teach them gratitude and patience.
"She carried 7.5 pounds to have me."
"Last night, she got me gum. I couldn't get to have it until tomorrow."
"She always pays $60 every year so I can play baseball."
"She spends $200 for me to play basketball."
Parental advice, however, works more like a trust fund than a checking account. It's not put into practice every day as a parent would like. Instead, it builds up, compounds interest and sits virtually untouched until that child has a child of his own. Then, it suddenly becomes treasure.
That discovery usually prompts the sweetest and most honest phone call a mother could ever get.
"Thanks, Mom. I had no idea."
Reprinted from the Port Huron Times Herald
Appreciating Mom
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