As I was walking around the pharmacy, waiting for my prescriptions to be filled, I came across a display of adorable kitchen towels. They all had clever sayings on them and I wanted to buy one of each – for decorating, not for dishes.  One in particular made me think.  It said, “Sometimes when I open my mouth, my mother comes out.”

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I’m blessed to still have my mom. She’s 84 years old and still on the go!  That’s great and I want to live a long time too so I hope I inherited the living long gene my mom got from her mom.  Grandma lived to be 98 and she wasn’t nearly as healthy as my mom is. But will I really become my mother?

IS THIS ME?

There’s a picture of my mom and dad hanging in my living room. My mom was 53 at the time and her hair was all grey!  She always has her hair cut short – sometimes too short.  I’m 58 and have no intention of letting my hair go grey or getting a boy’s haircut.  In fact, as I sit here writing, I am waiting for my hair color to set another ten minutes before I rinse it out.  I know I look like my mom, so I sort of know what I’ll look like 25 years from now, except I’ll keep coloring my hair and keeping it long until someone has the courage to tell me that my long Verona Brown hair looks ridiculous on a face that old.

(please excuse me while I rinse my hair)

I’m back. My hair is done. I feel a lot younger now.  Now back to becoming my mom.  I try to be mindful of things my mom does that annoy me so that I don’t do them to my children.  For example, Mom will be the first to tell me how cluttered my house is, while she’s unloading another pile of stuff into it.  She always gets these free gifts from ordering things in catalogs.  She gets free gifts from the Casinos.  Then there are all the bargains she purchases at the dollar store.  Guess who ends up with all these free gifts and treasures?

My mom has always been very creative as far as sewing and crafts. She passed some of her talent on to my sister, but me – nothing. Mom does volunteer work at a hospital and does crafts with the patients.  Well, my grandchildren like to do crafts too, so Mom found a place to dump her extra supplies – in my cluttered house.

Before the granddaughters started school, Thursday was family day.  Mom, my daughters, my niece and my aunt would all come to my house and spend the day together.  For some reason the girls loved grilled cheese sandwiches at Grammy’s.  I think it’s because I use Italian bread and real butter.  I always made a special shopping trip for family day, and I always politely told my mom not to bring anything, as I had the meals all planned.  Well, one day, in she walks with a pizza after I had already start making the grilled cheese sandwiches.  Who’s going to eat grilled cheese sandwiches when there’s pizza?

‘TIS THE SEASON!

A few years ago, I suggested to my entire family that we stop exchanging gifts for the holidays, except for the children. Everyone was a little budget challenged.  The true meaning of holidays should be to enjoy each other’s company, not run up our credit cards.  Mom likes to go to the casinos, so she should spend her money there, not on a gift for me.  As far as a gift from me to mom, she returns everything I’ve ever given her.  Everyone agreed to cease the gift giving.  However, mom broke the rule and started buying gifts again.  So I had to get her a gift.  Of course, she returned all the gifts I got her.  She sure loved the purse my sister got her.  She must have mentioned it a hundred times.

The annoyances and differences of opinion my mother and I have are frivolous.  Any daughter would feel blessed to have such a good relationship with her mother.  Becoming my mother means being kind, helpful, generous and loving my family unconditionally.  Sign me up!

debbie@grammyslittlehelpers.com