Keeper of the magic that makes things "all-better." How would you describe your mother? Being a mom is the most challenging and rewarding, exhausting and amazing thing I've ever done. My own mother had the bravery and courage to take on the job of being a mother to 11. That's right... I said 11. Seven of them (the real trouble-makers in the group 😉) were boys! So many times when people ask me about my own kids and I tell them that I am the mother of 3 boys, I hear, "You must have your hands full," or "I bet they keep you busy!" The truth is I LOVE being a mom to three boys and would never choose anything different, but there are plenty of days that I am in awe of how my own mother (and father) survived parenting all 11 of us. Every day I'm certain that I couldn't do it.
My mom was a stay-at-home mom almost her whole life and with 11 kids I'm certain this was no walk in the park. Every day she was busy with cooking, baking, gardening, laundry, sewing, and teaching. In the heat of the summer she would make freezer jelly and corn, and can peaches, applesauce, carrots, beans, and beets. In the midst of all of that, she could also be found picking rock, unloading endless wagons full of hay in humid, sticky summer heat, and feeding and milking the cows if my dad and brothers were working in the field. I feel exhausted just writing that, but we had a good life. My mother had (and still has) the patience of a saint!
Her loving patience is one of my favorite qualities about her. It is her patience that makes her an excellent teacher. I can't tell you how many times I messed up the pancakes in the morning while making them before she got out of bed. She was never mad. We cooked and baked what we wanted and she encouraged our creativity, even when it turned out absolutely terrible.
I can't seem to master this same patience with my own kids. I'm certain I was cooking on my own long before I've let my own kids take on this task. I recently made a quilt with my kids and I was a nervous wreck letting them try to use the sewing machine. I've watched my mom do these same tasks with my boys and she is a picture of calm; letting them cut, iron, and sew or scoop, measure, and spill things on the floor while baking. She just giggles and I watch and learn while doing my best not to get in the way of their fun.
These sweet pictures were taken on a day that my mom came to visit and surprised us with apples from her tree. We almost never make pie at our house, so of course pie was the first thing the boys wanted. My mom makes amazing pie.
This is my mom. She is an amazingly strong and beautiful human and I'm thankful for her every day. Unfortunately, I don't have any current pictures of us together because I'm always the one holding the camera; more evidence that I need to work on being patient enough to teach my own kids or husband to take the wheel. Our very own Mommy & Me session will be on the agenda for the next time we can be close enough for hugs.
