12:52 am Happy Birthday, Mom!
In honor of my mother’s birthday, I wanted to write a post about the top memories I have with her. But I’m finding it difficult. Not because I don’t have special, significant memories involving me and my mom…but because most of the ones that stick out in my mind are so personal. The relationship between a mother and daughter is filled with inside jokes and life-changing events and awkward moments. I mean, I could tell you about the first time I got my period and how my mom sat me down and explained… but that would be inappropriate. This is a blog, not a diary. Let’s try to have some boundaries.
I mean, of course I have some normal memories. As a treat when we were little, sometimes Mom would take us to Wickham Park for a picnic. We would drive through McDonald’s to get our Happy Meals (we had to eat our chicken nuggets before we could drink our shakes), and then we would go to our “secret spot” which was under this giant tree that we were sure no one else knew about. Then we would lie on our blanket and throw French fries at the squirrels and guess how many rings were in the trunk of the tree. I want to do that with my kids.
Very little has changed about the way I felt about my mom as a little girl and how I feel now. When I was little and we were living in Manchester when Mom worked nights, I would sneak out of bed to stand by the window and wait for her car to pull in the driveway. I always felt better when she was around. Now that I’m 22, I still wait around for her to come home! If she calls to say she’s on her way home, I find myself hanging around downstairs, checking the clock!
What really amazes me is how much I’ve become like this woman that I’ve grown up wanting to be. Not only am I now constantly cold, but I have inherited her “acid tongue.” I’m still trying to get to her level, because man, as soon as you zing her, she’s got another one coming right back. And the other day, she was dancing and singing around the house, and just when I was thinking about what a nut she is I realized… I DO IT TOO. I also crack up at my own jokes, predict the endings to television shows within the first five minutes, and blow kisses to other drivers who piss me off… AND SO DOES SHE.
One of the things I appreciate the most about my mom is that she always knows what to say. You may not want to hear it, and she knows this, so she’ll preface it by saying, “Well, do you want me to tell you what I think?” And you brace yourself and say yes and she tells you and SUDDENLY EVERYTHING IS SO MUCH CLEARER. She has a knack for seeing a situation as it really is – not as the crazy, overanalyzed problem that I tend to make it. And she’s so COOL about things. For example, I remember calling her during Senior Week to tell her I had kissed a guy the night before. I had kind of been kicking myself for it, until she said, “Well, do you like him or is he just someone you needed to kiss before you graduated?” HE WAS JUST SOMEONE I NEEDED TO KISS BEFORE I GRADUATED! I nearly shouted, relieved that someone could understand me better than I understood myself. I mean, what mother is THAT COOL?!?!
Living at home these past few months has given me the rare opportunity to get closer to the family members I kind of left behind when I went to college. My relationship with my mom has always been a strong one – I’ve always been able to tell her anything. And even though I used to roll my eyes when she would make me text her after I got back to my dorm after a night of drunken debauchery or now when she comes in my room every morning to kiss me goodbye, I know I’m lucky to have a mother who loves me so much. It was only recently that I realized how truly lucky I am. Because she’s not only my mother. She’s my best friend.
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Love,
Tara
I mean, of course I have some normal memories. As a treat when we were little, sometimes Mom would take us to Wickham Park for a picnic. We would drive through McDonald’s to get our Happy Meals (we had to eat our chicken nuggets before we could drink our shakes), and then we would go to our “secret spot” which was under this giant tree that we were sure no one else knew about. Then we would lie on our blanket and throw French fries at the squirrels and guess how many rings were in the trunk of the tree. I want to do that with my kids.
Very little has changed about the way I felt about my mom as a little girl and how I feel now. When I was little and we were living in Manchester when Mom worked nights, I would sneak out of bed to stand by the window and wait for her car to pull in the driveway. I always felt better when she was around. Now that I’m 22, I still wait around for her to come home! If she calls to say she’s on her way home, I find myself hanging around downstairs, checking the clock!
What really amazes me is how much I’ve become like this woman that I’ve grown up wanting to be. Not only am I now constantly cold, but I have inherited her “acid tongue.” I’m still trying to get to her level, because man, as soon as you zing her, she’s got another one coming right back. And the other day, she was dancing and singing around the house, and just when I was thinking about what a nut she is I realized… I DO IT TOO. I also crack up at my own jokes, predict the endings to television shows within the first five minutes, and blow kisses to other drivers who piss me off… AND SO DOES SHE.
One of the things I appreciate the most about my mom is that she always knows what to say. You may not want to hear it, and she knows this, so she’ll preface it by saying, “Well, do you want me to tell you what I think?” And you brace yourself and say yes and she tells you and SUDDENLY EVERYTHING IS SO MUCH CLEARER. She has a knack for seeing a situation as it really is – not as the crazy, overanalyzed problem that I tend to make it. And she’s so COOL about things. For example, I remember calling her during Senior Week to tell her I had kissed a guy the night before. I had kind of been kicking myself for it, until she said, “Well, do you like him or is he just someone you needed to kiss before you graduated?” HE WAS JUST SOMEONE I NEEDED TO KISS BEFORE I GRADUATED! I nearly shouted, relieved that someone could understand me better than I understood myself. I mean, what mother is THAT COOL?!?!
Living at home these past few months has given me the rare opportunity to get closer to the family members I kind of left behind when I went to college. My relationship with my mom has always been a strong one – I’ve always been able to tell her anything. And even though I used to roll my eyes when she would make me text her after I got back to my dorm after a night of drunken debauchery or now when she comes in my room every morning to kiss me goodbye, I know I’m lucky to have a mother who loves me so much. It was only recently that I realized how truly lucky I am. Because she’s not only my mother. She’s my best friend.
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Love,
Tara
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