Last night I made Mexican since it was cinco de Mayo and all. By "made" I mean I browned some ground turkey and followed the directions on the Ortega box and heated up some refried beans. I realized as I was chopping up tomatoes that I did not have any lettuce.
Great. Well, I guess it will just be tacos without the lettuce. I then got fixated on my lack of lettuce but decided it was really not worth a trip to the store at this point since it was already almost 7 and everything else was about ready.
The boys and Charlie were outside and when Devin walked in, I told him to wash up and to go tell Charlie and Dracen it was ready. I was still obsessing over the lack of lettuce so when Devin came in, I let him know right away that we did not have lettuce. I really needed to get this off my chest since it was eating away at me by this point.
So a couple of minutes pass and Charlie and Dracen come in but I just keep talking about the missing lettuce. Devin finally says, "you sound just like Mawmaw Becky".
Say what? I laugh and ask why that is and he mocks a little imitation of me and really draws out the syllables..."I just feeel so baaad that we don't have lettiss!" I don't really think I said those exact words but that is what he said and do I really sound like that?
I then have to know exactly what is was about my behavior, specifically, that reminded him of MawMaw Becky who just also happens to be my mother and he said, "it was just...I dunno...it just reminded me of her."
My followup response: "Well, you know what they say? We all turn into our mothers."
This prompted another conversation entirely because Devin got really concerned about the possibility of turning into me. I told him I thought he was safe since he's a boy and all and that he would either turn into Charlie or Darin (his biological dad who died when he was 4) but we then agreed that it will probably be a combination since it seems to be partly biological and partly learned. But that's another topic. Let's keep to the one at hand.
About me turning into my mother...
You know, I never used to believe that we actually do start to act like our mothers.
That was before I became one.
I can't tell you how many times I've caught myself doing or saying something to my kids that I know came directly from her and I know if I am able to pick up on it that it must really be obvious to others.
And you know what? I'm okay with it. Love you, Mom, and thanks for being who you are!
That is really what life is all about, in my book. We come into this world vulnerable and helpless, unable to care for ourselves, but it is all okay because God equips us with mothers and I am so eternally grateful to Him, not only for blessing me with mine, but for allowing me to become one too.
Just a few of the things I've learned/discovered since becoming a mother:
1. There is a such thing as unconditional love.
2. It takes about 24 hours for a cup of milk, left on a nightstand, to take a non-liquid form.
3. All the stories you hear about how bad labor is do not even come close to the real horror of it.
4. Every second of that pain is totally worth it when you see that tiny little face and hold that precious bundle in your arms.
5. Hearing, "Moommm" in the middle of the night is never a good sign.
6. Being a heavy sleeper does not apply to mothers. I was the heaviest sleeper in the entire world before I became a mother. Just ask mine. But now one of my kids can just stand in the doorway and I will bolt straight up in bed, fling the covers back, and dart for the door saying "WHAT? WHAT IS IT? WHAT's WRONG?" and my hand always goes automatically to the forehead of the boy in the doorway.
7. Little boys feel some sort of gravitational pull towards puddles and dirt.
8. Sleep is a precious gift, especially when you have a baby who fights it with a passion.
9. Cleaning the house and doing laundry consume about three quarters of a mother's time. At least.
10. Multitasking is a survival instinct.
11. Sometimes "giving in" is just the only way of obtaining any sense of sanity.
12. It is REALLY hard to clean up an entire bag of flour off carpet and furniture. Trust me...it's way harder than you'd think.
13. Grandmothers or Mawmaws as we like to call them here in these parts, are not only blessings but often lifesavers as well. Thank God for them.
14. Homemade cards with stick people and backwards letters are the best. Priceless.
15. A clean vehicle is a thing of the past.
16. So is spending hours on oneself to get ready to go out.
17. Going out now means something entirely different than it did before kids. What used to be going out for drinks, dinner, dancing, etc. becomes going out for diapers, groceries,ball practice, etc.
18. Little boys will whip it out and pee anywhere if you don't watch them like the mother hawk you now are.
19. Being out someplace, even if you know your kids are not with you, and hearing a child call out, "Mom!" will automatically cause your head to snap up and look around for your own child.
20. Moms always know when they're being lied to.
21. Being a mother is hard.
22. It is also the most bestest gift and job in the whole wide world!
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| No one ever died from sleeping in an unmade bed. I have known mothers who remake the bed after their children do it because there's a wrinkle in the spread or the blanket is on crooked. This is sick. ~Erma Bombeck |
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