Mother's Little Helper, Jessie Willcox Smith Today I opened my mouth and my mother fell out.
A lovely lady grumped about doing her chores this morning and I said brightly, "A cheerful willing helper is worth her weight in gold!"
Rolling eyes. "Mooooo-ooooooooooooom."
(Note to my mom: Stop here. This is where you get to laugh and feel satisfied that your curse has been fulfilled. You know, the "hope-you-have-a-kid-who-blah-blah-blah-something-something"-- sorry, that's usually as far as I listened. Anyway, Mom, stop reading now. Call me and I'll tell you about cute things the kids have been doing or something.)
As lovely lady stomped off, I stood stunned and near tears. I couldn't believe I'd said that. Next thing you know, I'll be at the bottom of the stairs warbling "It's time to get up, It's time to get up this moooorning!" to the reveille tune at breakfast time. Now my children are going to make fun of me when they grow up, just like my sisters and I laugh at the dumb annoying things Mom said when we were kids!
Lest all of you out there in cyber-land feel sorry for my mother right now, picturing her weeping before her monitor at the thought that her beloved daughters that she so lovingly raised have been make fun of her behind her back....don't. First of all, she deserves it. I told her to stop reading, and more to the point, she actually used to chirp sunshiney crap like "A cheerful willing helper..." and "A stitch in time saves nine." Secondly, we don't make fun of her behind her back. We make fun of her to her face. By now she's developed the tough bristly hide of a warthog. And if she locks herself in the closet and cries later, well, like I said: She used to actually spout that stuff at us. She should be begging our forgiveness and paying our therapists instead of crying in the closet.
Hmmph. Now I've got that song in my head, the reveille one. I wonder what my kids will laugh about when they start talking about the things that their crazy ol' Mom used to do.
(I love you, Mom. I really want to be just like you when I grow up.)
2 comments:
(hee-hee) I'd feel really bad if you didn't make fun of me! MY mom got her feelings hurt whenever Blaine and I tried to poke fun at her. So I told myself that I'd go the other direction and deliberately set myself up as a figure of ridicule so you'd have a big target to hit ... and it worked! (and I want to be just like you when I grow up, too)
this brought such a smile to my face reading this... your Mom must be one amazing lady.
Cat you write so very well... I can't tell you how very much I enjoy reading about you and your family.
Thank you so much for sharing your life with me and others.
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