It's kind of nice being able to share my mom with those kids in reading club. They get to see how awesome and loving she is when I'm not there (aka at school). I love hearing my mom's stories about how this one kid in her class tells her to blow her nose or how this other girl is really progressing. It's just great all the time.
Sometimes she tells me "You're an odd duck..." and I say "You're the one who raised me!" and i wouldn't have it any other way. If she had similar quirks and got a guy like my dad, I have no problem with it.
I really like when we go to the store for a wedding gift or something, pulling into the vehicle aisle (hilarious carr joke, if you didn't catch that.. but seriously, that's where we go first. it's got the fire extinguishers.) and go through the list. then we end up buying something kitchen-y, looking in the clearance for clothes, buying a candy bar, and eating it in the parking lot before heading home. i don't think i'll ever forget that.
I'm so glad she taught me how to cook and clean. Seriously, forcing me to do my own laundry at 14 has really helped me be able to know how to do laundry. I know people who move out of their homes not knowing the first thing about a red sock in a white load and i'm glad i'm not one of them. She teaches me by telling me, which i like. I sometimes like a visual aid, but if i'm just told "boil it, add it, simmer it, drain it, blah blah" i'm much more able to learn by myself. I don't need my hand held all the time, and she knows that and has really helped me take my first steps of real life.
Also, i totally love my mom's style. I listen to more music that she used to listen to than what the teens now listen to. if that makes sense. I love wearing her old jewelry or shirts (even though she through a lot of them away... it's okay. i still have dad's shirts to make up for it.) or having her help me put together an outfit. Some things i find normal, though, she finds rediculous. like wearing mismatched socks. or wearing boots in the spring. or golashoes (golashes that aren't boots, rather shoes.) on a dry day. but that's okay. i get around them. Like i'm sure she did when she was my age.
She has taught me not to be predjudiced against people, especially those of another religeon. That's one of my most valuable bits of knowledge. She ultimately taught me how to avoid the fundamental attribution error as much as possible. Of course, it still come out when i'm driving or when someone is rude or something, but i try not to think of people as jerks all the time, rather people who have been in a rough patch and are just trying to get through.
She's always hoping and praying for me. I know she was wishing for me to get asked to prom just as much as i was. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I know she was hoping for me to get this job or that job or that one or this one or that one or that one or perhaps this one or maybe the next one or the one i applied to first or the one that i'll apply to twice or thrice. I guess that just wasn't meant either.
I know my mom is never going to limit me. Ever. Of course there's curfews and "don't date guys any more that 3 years older than you until you're in college" or something, but she's never going to say i can't love this boy because he's too anything or i can't obsess over this band because they're too whatever. She's going to support me in whatever I do and never hold me back with restrictions. And the restrictions that do hold me back, i make for myself because i was taught well. "Cuz my [mommy] taught me good."
I trust i'll be calling her near daily when i move out. I hear so many people with families and lives now that say "You never know how much you need your mom till she's not there right across the hall". I believe that all the way. that's why i'm trying to take every advantage to learn from her and to just spend time with her as I can. Still, i'm glad she's already implanted all those bits of intellect in me that i don't need her to hold my hand, but just to be a phonecall away.
I'll end it here with a little anecdote because this is just so sentimental that i almost can't stand it. anyway... i was sitting with Hannah and Kar in math class and hannah was filling out a form to enter her mom in a "best mom" competition or something and Kar said "oh, i should enter my mom! she's the best!" and hannah said "She can't beat my mom!" or something and then I said "I guess i shouldn't enter my mom... because she would whoop yo mom's tush!"
Happy Mother's Day!!!! I LOVE YOU MOM!!!
love, Ellen.
I love that picture! You girls are super cute.
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