Ode to my mother
Posted 03-23-2007 at 07:30 AM by mycoupons
I remember standing in the kitchen when I was six, the smell of Nestle Tollhouse cookies filling the air. I was licking a spoon covered in cookie batter. (We weren't afraid of salmonella back then!) My mother was standing over the sink, washing dishes by hand. She was wearing a beige apron covered in yellow flowers, and had her long brown hair pulled into a tight ponytail. I remember thinking she was the most beautiful, smartest person I would ever know.
Then I turned into a teenager. My mother suddenly became covered in warts, and lost her brains. She didn't know anything, was totally un-cool and everything she said was meant to annoy me.
Her unfortunate turn lasted well into my teenage years and my twenties. Somehow, miraculously, once I turned thirty- she became beautiful and intelligent again.
I am penning this article late on Thursday night, as my mother's suitcase is packed by my front door. She has been visiting me this week, and is leaving in the morning to go home.
Having my mother visit is like having Mary Poppins and Nanny McPhee here for a week. Somehow when she leaves, my children are better behaved, my house is cleaner, my refrigerator is full, my closet is updated and my Tupperware is all straight.
My mother can make my children do things that the world's top child behavior specialists could never dream of.
Last week my daughter would gag at the thought of eating the crust of the bread. I would spend time carefully ripping the crust off of bread before serving her. God forbid I missed a quarter of an inch of toast, and my daughter would boycott all forms of carbohydrates for a week.
Mom arrived on Monday, and by Tuesday breakfast, Lauren was happily crunching away on her crusts. Lauren asked me this morning if she could have extra crust on her bread!
We have been out for lunch everyday this week, and my son has sat quietly and happily through every meal. Usually taking my almost two year old to a restaurant is only possible if the establishment offers paper hats or singing rodents. Somehow with my mom here, my son has turned into a perfect dining companion.
My bath mats are turned sideways, my toilet paper is folded under not over, there are no dishes in the sink, and no laundry piled on the floor of the laundry room.
My patio is clean, my burned out light bulbs are changed, my toilet seat is tightened, and both of my children have new window treatments.
My seven year old dishes and silverware have been replaced with brand new sets. My linen closet has been organized and rotated. I have a brand new fire engine red vacuum cleaner in my closet that actually works.
A mere five years ago, I would count down the minutes until my mother would be leaving- we had a forty-eight hour rule. A mere minute over spending forty-eight hours together, and the bickering would begin. Bickering would turn into fighting, and fighting would turn into crying and yelling. Now I am counting the minutes until she comes for her next visit.
While she will always be my mother, she has become my best friend and confidante.
Funny how life comes full circle- my mother is once again the most beautiful, smartest woman I know.
If you will please excuse me, I am going to go spend the last couple of hours before her flight telling her so.
Call your mother!
Until we meet again,
Cici
Cici@MyCoupons.com
Then I turned into a teenager. My mother suddenly became covered in warts, and lost her brains. She didn't know anything, was totally un-cool and everything she said was meant to annoy me.
Her unfortunate turn lasted well into my teenage years and my twenties. Somehow, miraculously, once I turned thirty- she became beautiful and intelligent again.
I am penning this article late on Thursday night, as my mother's suitcase is packed by my front door. She has been visiting me this week, and is leaving in the morning to go home.
Having my mother visit is like having Mary Poppins and Nanny McPhee here for a week. Somehow when she leaves, my children are better behaved, my house is cleaner, my refrigerator is full, my closet is updated and my Tupperware is all straight.
My mother can make my children do things that the world's top child behavior specialists could never dream of.
Last week my daughter would gag at the thought of eating the crust of the bread. I would spend time carefully ripping the crust off of bread before serving her. God forbid I missed a quarter of an inch of toast, and my daughter would boycott all forms of carbohydrates for a week.
Mom arrived on Monday, and by Tuesday breakfast, Lauren was happily crunching away on her crusts. Lauren asked me this morning if she could have extra crust on her bread!
We have been out for lunch everyday this week, and my son has sat quietly and happily through every meal. Usually taking my almost two year old to a restaurant is only possible if the establishment offers paper hats or singing rodents. Somehow with my mom here, my son has turned into a perfect dining companion.
My bath mats are turned sideways, my toilet paper is folded under not over, there are no dishes in the sink, and no laundry piled on the floor of the laundry room.
My patio is clean, my burned out light bulbs are changed, my toilet seat is tightened, and both of my children have new window treatments.
My seven year old dishes and silverware have been replaced with brand new sets. My linen closet has been organized and rotated. I have a brand new fire engine red vacuum cleaner in my closet that actually works.
A mere five years ago, I would count down the minutes until my mother would be leaving- we had a forty-eight hour rule. A mere minute over spending forty-eight hours together, and the bickering would begin. Bickering would turn into fighting, and fighting would turn into crying and yelling. Now I am counting the minutes until she comes for her next visit.
While she will always be my mother, she has become my best friend and confidante.
Funny how life comes full circle- my mother is once again the most beautiful, smartest woman I know.
If you will please excuse me, I am going to go spend the last couple of hours before her flight telling her so.
Call your mother!
Until we meet again,
Cici
Cici@MyCoupons.com
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