Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!!

I was trying to remember the earliest memory of my mom...I think I was about 4 years old...weird that I can't go back further than that. I would love to try to remember being carried around, snuggling with her as an infant, but I can't. I remember making her mad. That is the earliest memory I can recall. I accidentally poked her in the eye when she was helping me get dressed and I must have let a stray finger go right into her eye. She yelped and ran to the bathroom. She was angry for about a second...and then quickly reassured me that she was fine. Turns out she had been suffering some eye pain already, and it irritated it a bit.

That's it...she was helping me, she was nurturing, and loving. That is how I will always remember mom. She got me interested in food by having me help her cook dinner. She also got me into cooking Thanksgiving dinner out of necessity...her turkey was so dry that I had to do something about that as a teenager. Mom makes the best eggrolls in the world, and I ain't kidding! Dad says she couldn't cook when he married her, so she was either a fast learner, or Dad was over-exaggerating...which he has been known to do. She says my cooking is her favorite...she has to whisper that to me so dad doesn't get his feelings hurt.

When us kids were misbehaving I still remember how she would warn us to start behaving; she would take the rolling pin out of the kitchen drawer and pound it on the counter. That would immediately cause us to whisper and chill out. The threat of punishment was enough to get us back in line. At some point we all out-grew her. Mom is a tiny 5-footer with a huge personality and heart. When we were teens, she couldn't hurt us anymore physically no matter how hard she would swing her tiny fists. I remember Duke arguing with her after school one day. I think he was 14. Well mom went to slap him on the shoulder, and he just laughed. It hurt her hand more than it hurt him. She never tried to punish us again, but then again, she never had to after that.

Mom was not a morning person and on school days we had to get up early, make our own lunch and get our own breakfast. Yep, cold spaghetti was breakfast for us sometimes. I think that is where I get my own habit of not spending a ton of morning time to get going...I just get up and go. No need to relax with the morning paper or a cup of coffee. I would rather sleep an extra amount of time and then rush out.

It didn't seem like she worried much about us, but now when I talk to her I know she was just trying to put on a strong face for us kids so we would build up our own sense of confidence. I am glad she was pretty clueless about how "adventurous" we all were growing up. The situations we would get ourselves into scare me when I think about it now, I can't imagine my mom actually knowing what kind of trouble we could get into. That is for another blog...let's just say we kept her in the dark for her own good...haha.

Mom is the perfect mother-in-law. She loves Lori almost more than she loves me! She never gives Lori advice on anything, and she is always telling us what a great job we are doing with our own kids, household, etc. She never has a negative thing to say. She and dad are a little older, and aren't the best babysitters, but they are great grandparents to my kids. They are generous, helpful, and they teach my kids about life. They constantly tell my kids how proud they are of their accomplishments.

Mom wasn't a June Cleaver type of mom, but she was exactly what I needed her to be! She is my number 1 fan, and in her eyes I can do no wrong. But I think she says that to Irene, Duke, and Viv as well. I guess that is what being a mom is about. You have to make each child feel like they are your favorite.

I love you mom!! Happy Mother's Day!

Chow!