A post about Mothers

I find mothers to be interesting people. Especially now that I am one.

Sometimes, the more kids a woman has, the more fascinating they are to me. Craig works with a man whose wife has birthed 9 boys. She home-schools. I have seen them shopping at Sam's Club and they all behave. All of them. This woman seems like a saint to me. I don't know how she does it. I would have been to the loony bin after the fourth boy I think...maybe sooner.

Whenever I'm in a store and hear another Mom losing it with her kids...most of the time I think, "Phew, not me this time." When it is me, I can hear myself and try to change my tone of voice, etc, because it's embarrassing to lose it in public. If you're a Mom, and you haven't lost it in public at least once...your kids are angels, you're a saint...or your time just hasn't come yet. Craig swears it's something in the air at Target that makes our kids lose their minds (especially if he's with us.)

I came across this website last night, and found it also strangely fascinating, and reassuring at the same time. It's called The Shape of A Mother. It's a blog that a woman started to celebrate Mommy bodies...all types. I'll warn you that there is nudity, and some photos are graphic...even depicting births. But on the whole, the site is a great tribute to Mommy bodies. I even thought, hey, mine isn't sooooo bad. They also have a link to a site that shows real women's breasts...so you can see that your own aren't weird (if you think they are), they're just yours. But the photos posted by real Moms on The Shape of A Mother, well, some of them, actually made me think I didn't get as bad a deal on the stretch marks as I thought I did. But still, my Mom has none...

Speaking of my Mom...I was thinking about this today. Back in 1997 a local radio station was holding a contest to write "Why My Mom is Special" for Mother's Day. It was a station I didn't listen to, but my Mom mentioned it to me. So, I thought, what they hey, and wrote something pretty quickly using my parent's computer that night. I didn't put much thought into it, just wrote what came naturally, printed it out and mailed it. And promptly forgot about it. I was in college, and came home almost every weekend. I think I also had fridays off from classes...so I sometimes came home on thursday night and hit the local bars to meet up with some "friends". Anywho. The friday before Mother's Day I was sleeping in, because I had been out late the previous night. The phone kept ringing in the morning, but I ignored it. When I finally got up, I checked the messages on my parents' answering machine and was met with messages from my Dad, saying to call my Mom, and then by my Mom saying (in a shaky and sniffling voice) "Heather, when you get up, call me at work." So, I'm thinking...what the hell did I do wrong now?

It turned out that my Mom was listening to the radio...and they were reading some of the entries to that contest. My Mom thought they were all pretty nice. Then they read the winning essay, and my Mom really thought, "Wow, that's really nice." Then they said that it was written for Judy H. by her daughter Heather H. And she was crying...and crying...and crying... (well, you get the picture.) I won her a "Mother and Child" pendant with a 2 carat diamond setting. One of my proudest moments.

So here's the "essay":
My mother is special to me for many reasons. When I was younger, my mother allowed me to make several of my own decisions and was there for me through the aftermath of my decisions whether they were appropriate or mistakes. She offered a hug or a shoulder to cry on in a moment’s notice. She is not only my mother, as I grow older each year my mother becomes more and more my best friend. I know I can confide in her and she will not judge me but will support me. My mother is special because she is my greatest cheerleader. If I begin to have doubts about where my life is headed, my mother is always there with an encouraging word. My mother is special because in her I see my grandmother, who passed away, and I see my future. My mother is special because she made me the person I am today. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.
Love, Heather May 11, 1997