smilingrid: for my mom

June 17, 2013

for my mom

My Father's Day post yesterday kind of got me to thinking about how rushed and almost skipped over Mother's Day was this year. While on both parents' days they spent the majority of daylight hours watching my brother play soccer, on Mother's Day I was also called in to work. Unfortunately, this combination adds up to me not seeing my mom until after we both returned home and only celebrating with a quick "Happy Mother's Day, I love you!" text.

That's just not right.

So, here's to you, mom. Happy (belated) Mother's Day!


Remember those adventures I was talking about yesterday? My mom has been steering those right from day one! She helped Kitty and I make an outside castle/fortress out of our blankets, propped up by our old apple tree among other rose-tinted afternoons. Oh! And there's all of the crazy joint birthdays she planned for John and I, especially the surprise-camping-sleepover-extravaganza! 


My mom is not a fan of the cold, her fingers and toes get ridiculously frozen and it's just all around uncomfortable. But! You'd really never know. She is always out there with everyone, creating those wonderful memories. John and I skied on a team, our dad coached, and mom would not be left out! She jumped into coordinating volunteers and helping judge the races, even though that came with hours standing in the cold. She made our winters even better, especially because she needed to be a trooper about it.



Same note about the cold, but it also bears noting that she and my dad put up an ice rink in our side yard and taught my brother and I to skate (also, she hand-me-downed that jacket to me!)



My mom has always been my greatest defender (both in reality and metaphorically). In this picture, I had broken my arm from bouncing on the bed with all of my friends on New Year's Eve (the parent who was supposed to be watching us was a little carried away with the festivities instead). Since I was so young and have a high tolerance for pain, it took a little while before we went to the doctor's. When we did, the nurse who was helping us came at me with a rubber hammer (the ones they use to tap your knee) and when I raised my broken arm to defend myself, he said that clearly it wasn't broken. 


My mom called bullshit.

Long story short, it was very broken and mom emerged victorious. 




My mom taught me my love of food, every recipe I tried growing up was with her guidance. We have made messes and we have made masterpieces- but it all started here; look at how psyched I am over some baby food!



She nurtured my love of sweaters from an early age, especially by knitting the one I'm wearing above!




I guess she's influenced my entire style as well without my noticing, because that looks like an outfit I'd wear now (I had this amazing pair of overalls when I was little and I miiight be wanting to get another pair...), especially the stripes and my glasses!



She instilled in me a competitive drive that I'm sure will take me far. I was so determined to beat her home that we ended up finishing in a sprint! Without my mom pushing me to get over my fear of trying something new, I never would have discovered my love of soccer (or any number of non-athletic things, but I'm sticking with the theme of the picture, here!). I will always be grateful for her pushing me to do more, even if I don't express it in the exact moment of pushing...





She taught us a love of the great outdoors, both in our backyard and any or everywhere else! We even used to have a corn field in our side yard, where I would try to re-enact Disney's Pocahontas and carry the ears on my head (it didn't work as well as the cartoon implied it would)


And while she isn't holding me but my cousin Emma in this last picture, I think it does an amazing job demonstrating how beautiful, loving, and wonderful my mom is.

I love you, mom! Hope this put a smile on your face (but knowing you, it probably made you cry instead)!

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