Happy Mother's Day!

I am sure bloggers all over the American blogosphere today are posting mother-related content on their site. The idea of joining the throngs makes me itch with a rebellious desire to buck the trend and do something different....but I've got a blog so I'm already just one of the crowd and why fight the natural course of things? Plus, I love my mom and she's definitely deserving of some good blog-bragging from her children.

Those of you who actually know my mom will know exactly what I mean when I say that she is brutally concise/to-the-point, structured, thorough and demanding. Those may seem like negative qualities but they aren't. Those traits are just the ones I have tortured her with throughout the years by doing everything in a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants manner. But those traits come in handy in many instances - teaching, cleaning, just having 6 kids in general, etc...

But rather than list all of her great qualities, I'll just tell you a couple memories of mother-daughter moments from my childhood that will always stick with me:

1. Do you remember those plastic jelly-ish bracelets that were big back in the 80's? You'd pile as many as you could on your wrists and do cool criss-cross things with them? Back when I was in elementary school they were all the rage. I wanted some but just assumed I couldn't have them so I never bothered asking for any. And then one day, after school I was at home apparently doing nothing all that memorable with my brothers. I just remember I was sitting on the floor and my mom walked in after a shopping trip and presented me with these bracelets. Tons of them - and she didn't have anything special for my brothers, which made it all the more special to me. I remember thinking, "Holy crap I have the coolest mom on earth!"

2. I used to have this little mini baking kit that was exactly like my mom's (rolling pin, mat, cookie cutters, etc) except kid sized. Whenever she made anything with any sort of dough, she'd set me up with my little mat and rolling pin right next to her and give me a fist sized amount of dough to work with. I would take it and copy her every move, rolling the dough out, kneading it, cutting it, etc. She was patient enough to help me every step of the way and then she even helped me to cook it and I got to eat it afterward. I always looked forward to these moments because my brothers didn't get to do it - it was my special thing with my mom and it was kind of GIRLY, and that was a rare thing in a household of 5 boys and 1 girl. But once again, in those moments I vividly remember thinking, "My mom is so nice and helpful and fun!"

There are many more of these, but those are just two of my favorites. Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all of those mothers out there. You are an admirable and impressive bunch of ladies - I have trouble handling kids for an hour straight so I can't imagine 18 years of it, let alone a lifetime.