Happy Mother's Day!

 

How do you describe Mom?  Where do you begin?  The glue that kept a crazy household together.  Dad worked and Mom more or less stayed at home with 5 girls and 2 boys.  Now that alone tells her strength.  Head chef, cook, bottle washer, laundry mat, and referee.  We had a routine, we all knew the rules and that they had to be followed.  We had nice clothes on our back, including the hand me downs as she kept them immaculate during the wash cycle.  We always had more than enough food on the table, even when it was her hamburger stew or whole milk mixed with powder.  She thought she was putting one past us by using the milk jug, but we knew.  Boy times have changed, my son won't drink anything but skim milk, we hated it and whined!  I remember but one time that she hit me, and boy did I deserve it.  The look was discipline in our house and it worked!  Yes, honest to God, it worked.  The time in question was when my Dad was recovering from hepatitis and my younger brother and I were in the basement fighting over something.  She told us to be quiet Dad was sleeping, and I yelled back 'I don't care,' well she may be a Mother of 7, and work her fingers to the bone daily, but it didn't stop her from coming down those stairs faster then lightening.  Smack! 

 

Our bedrooms were all upstairs, there was a door at the bottom of the stairs that put you right into the living room.  The door was always closed.  We had our privacy for the most part and she would often tell us to clean our rooms.  As typical kids, more often then not cleaning meant stuffing everything under the bed.  She'd get tired of telling us and then the day would come.  We'd get home from school and open the door to go up to our rooms to put play clothes on.  The dreaded sight!  She had gone through our rooms with the broom and swept everything to the base of the stairs.  ARGH!!  We would trudge up the steps with our belongings in hand and put them away.  Trip after trip until everything was in it's rightful place.  Cheerleading that day?  To bad!  Football?  To bad!  Until those stairs were spotless we did nothing else.

 

Several years ago, I got tired of telling my son to clean his room.  I pulled her trick and put everything in the middle of his room.  Same rule, until it's put away you do nothing.

When I was done, I looked at what I did and tears came to my eyes, 'I'm turning into my mother.'  I cried?  I could only be so lucky as to have the strength, knowledge, and love my Mother has showed throughout the years.  A glorious role model!  She has stood behind each of us through everything, standing tall and proud no matter what we did.  Helping in anyway she could.  Mom you are the greatest!  I love you!! :)