Saturday, May 8, 2010

a mother's day rant

so today . . . is mother's day eve. but you will probably be reading this on mother's day--unless you are too busy celebrating . . .

i am going to write a proper mother's day blog tomorrow, but tonight i just wanted to take a minute to say that i have the best mom! she didn't try to be my friend when i was growing up--she was my mom! we enjoyed being together, i think, but she made sound decisions about what was best for me without worrying if i was going to be happy about it or not. she was the mom! she didn't try to be my best friend--that wasn't her job. she made me dust the house and clean my room. she didn't let me ride my bike to the mall (she knew i would fall over and get hit by a car--i'm not a very good bike rider. but my friends were going . . . ) she wouldn't let me watch m*a*s*h*. i'm sure there were times when she would have liked to wimp out and just be my friend. but she didn't. because she was the mom. and she was a good one.

i look around me today, and i realize that quality is lacking in alot of families. parents are so worried that their kids will get mad or be upset, that they wimp out. i see it every morning at school when parents are bribing their preschoolers with toys and snacks to get them to stay at school. i mean really? if i hear one more parent of a four year old say, "but they won't let me . . . " there may be casualties. seriously. i see it at the mall when pre-teens pitch a fit to get what they want until their parents finally give in--which really only postpones the battle, because just wait until your ten-year-old tries to wear that outfit out of the house . . . i see it in college age kids who take advantage of their parents generosity without a second thought.

it isn't always fun to be the mom.

but . . .

there comes a day when it is. that day when your child realizes all that you have done for them, and the sacrifices you have made for them, and how the times you said no really were for their good. because you love them more than anyone else ever will. and they look at you with adult eyes, and they finally get it.

and THAT is the day that you finally get to be their friend.

so thanks, mom, for saying no when you had to, saying yes when you could, and always, always looking out for what was best for me--whether i knew it or not!

i'm glad that you were the mom when you needed to be, so that now you can be my friend.

i love you. lots.

2 comments:

Carroll said...

Hi Juliw:
Such a beautiful tribute to your Mom. I'm sure that means more to her than anything money can buy.
Happy Mother's Day!

mom said...

Between the tears, I don't know what to say. You were probably the easiest child I have ever seen, to parent. And I am very proud of you as an adult but a lot of that is due to you and not me. Happy Mother's day to you and the fantastic job you did of raising your own daughter...