10 May 2008

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day has always been a special holiday to me.  I have a pretty terrific mom, and I enjoy celebrating her.  She really is quite amazing!I was curious though, why in the world this day is celebrated, so I did a little research to discover the origins.  

While some holidays are often under debate in the church (halloween, of course, and even Christmas by some), I've never heard any criticism of celebrating mother's day.  And interestingly enough, in Britain Mother's Day actually was about as close to a Christian holiday as you can get in it's origins.  Originally called Mothering Sunday, servants were even allowed to have time off on the weekend to return to their "mother church" or the church where they grew up.

In America the holiday was sort of borrowed from Britain, but didn't really take off until after the Civil War (or, as some of my dear friends call it, The War of Northern Aggression).  Women actually banded together to help improve sanitation during the war, and then after the war to improve relationships between northern and southern towns.  President Wilson later made the day official to honor women who had lost sons in war.  And then the holiday became pretty commercial with Americans spending billions of dollars on flowers and meals and "pampering gifts".

So, what's my point?

Well, I kind of wish that this year I could be honoring Mother's Day in the old British way and going to my mothering church, but I can't, so I'll just list a few things in no particular order that I really like about my mom.

1.  She has a great imagination.  When I was little my mom would wash my hair in our kitchen sink.  Every time she would make up a new and really great story to tell me while she shampooed, rinsed, conditioned and rinsed again.  This also made her a really great playmate!

The snowman is mama's, not Isaiah's, but they played with him together.

2.  My mom can cook!  Anyone who has been to one of the ABFs can back me up on this one!  It doesn't matter if it's a main dish or a side salad or a dessert, my mom can make it, and it will be delicious.

3.  She reads her Bible.  Just like her mom, my mom reads her Bible every day.

4.  Every first day of school my mom had a special outfit that she had made for me.  Actually she learned to sew by making me baby clothes.  She doesn't sew as much now, but I was always proud to wear the clothes that she made for me, and all my friends were really impressed.  My senior year I searched and searched the stores for a dress for homecoming court, only to be frustrated again and again.  Mama made me the most beautiful dress and cape better than anything I saw in any of the stores!  People would ask for my hand-me-downs because Mama sewed so beautifully.  OH!  And if I needed a costume for school or halloween or anything that was going on--my mama made mine.  Once, she even made just about every costume for our
 school play.

5.  She's not afraid to try new things.  For instance, when I started taking piano lessons, Mama (and Daddy!) did too.  As Daddy says, "Broaden your horizons".  And even though she hates to fly, she flew to Berlin to meet us in January!

6.  She laid floor in her attic so that she would have a nice place to store a ton of stuff for us when we moved.  She can do pretty much anything that she puts her mind to.

7.  One of her favorite Christmas gifts was a chain saw.

8.  My mom was always the classroom mom, whether she was asked to be or not.  I loved that she didn't have a "job" and could always be free to go on the field trips or help with picnics or anything.  She worked really hard, though, don't get the wrong idea.  Whether it was collating calendars, selling programs at sporting events or folding pamphlets (or any other number of odd jobs), my mom was always working really hard.

9.  Other kids liked being with my mom.  Once she was a chaperone for our youth group's trip to an amusement park.  I remember at first that the kids that were assigned to her were reluctant to be in her group, to be with "an adult" (oh how terrible!).  Our group had the best time of anyone!  I didn't even get to ride with her very often because the other kids wanted to.

10.  She loves me.  No matter what I know that my mama loves me.  And I love her lots and lots.  

3 comments:

Pam said...

Ok there are tears in my eyes. I love you 55! Being a mom has been the greatest experience of my life, especially because of you. There are a lot of wonderful memories we have to look back on and by the grace of God there will be many more to come. You are a wonderful mother yourself and I realize that my teaching you came from my mom teaching me!

Guitta said...

I think your mom is pretty great myself. sweet post for a sweet mom.

Anonymous said...

I'm thankful you had a wonderful mom also. It's obvious that you take after her because you're a wonderful mother, and that's a real blessing for Isaiah and Thomas and for us too !!
Love Mom Slawson