Ten Reasons to Celebrate Mom This Mother’s Day

What special reasons do you have to celebrate your mom this Mother's Day?Today is a great day to brag about my mom a little. Here are ten reasons why my mom is freakin’ amazing!

1. When I married my husband and became a stepmom to his son and daughter, my mom morphed into Insta-Grandma within moments.

I’m an only child, and mother has had zero experience with boys. She noted our oldest son’s love of G.I. Joes, so she immediately acquired a few and learned how to make gun noises. When she would pick him up from school I would discover them in the floor playing with army men and blowing up air bases.

My mom gave our oldest daughter her space and allowed their relationship to flourish at its own pace. My mom patiently played “doggie” with my stepdaughter during the early years. When our girl was six, Mom would occasionally feed the kid her chicken nuggets in a bowl under the table. Whenever Mom would pick her up from school, the two of them would make a bowl of plain meringue and eat it. My stepdaughter was in heaven and both of them thankfully remained salmonella-free. Thanks to junk food, patience, and long car trips to Justice, I think my mother has become one of our daughter’s top confidants on this side of the child’s family.

2. My mom is principal of Mamaw’s Preschool.

After our youngest daughter, Lil’ K., and our youngest son, Lil’ P., arrived on scene, my parents offered to keep them for us while I worked. My mom held “Mamaw Preschool” every morning, complete with counting, coloring, and reading. If my mother ever stops ordering kids’ books from Amazon, I’m afraid the whole site will go under. She even convinced Lil’ P., who would rather climb a tree full of fire ants than sit still to hear a story, that books are cool. “Mamaw” found him a collection of books that make tractor sounds, and he carried him around with him wherever we went.

3. We will never lack for anything as long as my mother has an Internet connection.

Use these task cards with Judy Blume's Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing to develop students' reading comprehension
My childhood obsession with Judy Blume books began when my mom gave me Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing when I was in the third grade. I still love teaching this novel to my fourth graders after all these years.

By the age of two, Lil’ K. recognized the Amazon symbol.
“Mamaw got a PACKAGE!” she would say. “I wonder what she buyed me inside?”

4. Mom is conquering the worry monster.

Mom used to be a chronic worrier. She chased me all over creation when I was young, convinced something horrible would get me. She didn’t seem to be having a great deal of fun. Her whole demeanor changed when she and Dad had some health issues. She chilled out even more after she oversaw the care for my Grandma through all the stages of Parkinson’s. She had two choices: let the stress and worry take her under, or go with the flow. Thank heaven she opted for choice two so she could be my mentor in this department. I need all the help I can get.

5. Did I mention that my parents committed to keeping my kids every day for eight years?

I went to work every day with extreme peace of mind and much less guilt. Now that both Lil’ P. and Lil’ K are in school, my mom and dad often pick them up for me and keep them on weekends so Mr. Jenn and I can have date nights. Yahoo!

6. My mom and dad love to travel and love to take us with them.

We all went to Vegas ten years ago. My mom doesn’t party, but she danced on a bar with me at Coyote Ugly. I have pictures of my mom right smack in the middle of Chip and Dale at Disney World two summers ago. We have a whole host of adventures planned this summer—I can’t wait to share them later!

7. My mom loves a cool vehicle.

For years, my mom drove a Cadillac. Now she drives a Denali Acadia because she’s decided that third row seating is a must. She’s scaring the heck out of 74 years old, and my mom ogles cool tires and rims.
“Will you look at those wheels!!” my mother pointed out a pimped out Escalade chrome shiny enough to obscure the sun.
She’s been trying to convince my dad to let her put a set of spinners on her Acadia. I swear I’m not making this up.

8. From learning to ride a horse to melting at summer soccer tournaments, my mom is all about trying new things. Mother's Day is a time to celebrate those crazy memories you have with your mother.

My mom spent my teenage years toting a hoof pick, brushes, and saddle blankets for me at horseshows when it was 90+ degrees outside. She had never ridden horses, nor did she ever have any desire to, but she learned. She drove the truck while we baled hay. She was not happy, but she did it. Now she sits out in 30 degree wind storms and 90+ degree scorchers to watch her grandkids play soccer. Pretty versatile, huh?

9. Mom was our eyeballs, literally.

When I was a teenager, my mother hauled my girlfriends and me all over creation to shop, swim, play sports, and whatever else we could conjure up. Interestingly enough, all my friends and I were extremely nearsighted, but we all thought we were too good to wear our glasses. Mom, of course kept hers on at all times since she was driving. We girls put her on boy watch—whenever she spied cute guys, she was to lend us her glasses so we could check them out. By the time we were all old enough to get contacts, my mother was a boy-shopping PRO. Right up until our oldest daughter began dating her husband, Mom used her mad dude-spotting skeelz with her. Our girl was constantly impressed with my mother’s taste in adolescent males.

10. When one of us needs wise advice, Mom always delivers.

When our oldest son started calling girls, Mom told him this simple story.
“Once there was a little doggie, and he liked to play on the railroad tracks,” she began. Our boy listened intently.
“Suddenly the train came and cut off the end of his tail!” she continued. He looked concerned. “The next day, the little doggie went back to the railroad tracks to search for it in hopes of possibly reattaching it. Unfortunately the train came back, and this time, it ran over the doggie and cut off his head.”
“Well, that’s a terrible story, Grandma,” he said.
“It is,” nodded Mom in agreement. “and the moral of this sad story is this: `never lose your head over a little piece of tail.’”
And that, Dear Readers, is why my mother is so freakin’ cool. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!

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