"Can you be a secret agent?" my mother asked an elementary school friend. She had barely entered our apartment when I was considering eternal embarrassment. My mother would risk all dignity to creatively engage tween girls so I wouldn't be embarrassed that we couldn’t afford movie snacks. All anyone remembers is that my mom was/is "extremely cool."
We didn't fit the model of the other families. I was growing up in a single-parent household when the nightly news highlighted "those poor children" who are raised without guidance, support and love. They didn't know my mother. She protected her children with everything but excuses.
As we carried our peanut butter sandwiches, chips and juice boxes in our purses, I had little understanding that our budget could barely afford movie tickets. I only knew the movie performances came in second to those of my mom. When I would hear about single-parent families, my mother insisted, "They aren't talking about you." In that belief, I learned about setting individual standards. I have spent a lifetime setting and achieving goals because she believed that circumstances don’t define you – and still today creativity goes a very long way.
This excerpt about my mom was recently published in Indianapolis Woman magazine. I got an email from a friend indicating that she had read it and I was just thrilled. With Mother's Day quickly approaching, there is a lot to be said for treasuring the wonderful lessons that our mothers instilled in us. Equally important, as mothers, we have the opportunity and challenge to reach and teach our children each day, with lessons that truly matter. I'm just about as tickled as can be! Thank you Indianapolis Woman, thank you mom.
Over at crazyhipblogmamas they asked us to indicate what lesson do we wish our moms had taught us...and I thought this post should qualify. It really wasn't what she needed to teach me at all - it is a host of lessons that I wish I had fully learned a lot sooner. I wish she had taught me to take in every lesson that she taught and the way that she taught it - so that I might be so clever in fighting monsters and tween girls, as a mom myself. I have much love for creativity in all aspects of my life!
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