My Mother's birthday is this time of year...always right around Mother's Day and the King's birthday so she often gets lost in the shuffle.
Today, after years of torturing my mother over the things she was wrong about (things I am not mentioning here, ahem) I've decided to list the most important ones that she got right.
1. Always look your best, no matter how much money you have or don't have, no matter how much sleep you've had or haven't had, no matter how much you weigh or how long it's been since you could afford a haircut-- when you go out in public you should look the absolute best that you can. In the absence of everything else put on some lipstick and wear a smile.
2. You are allowed to talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime about anything. My mother will chat with people at the oddest times and within roughly 30 seconds figure out who they know that she knows, or where they lived that she's lived, or how they do something that she does exactly the same way. She's genuinely interested in people, and within 34 seconds they are interested in her too.
3. Making other people feel good about themselves should be one of your goals. While not every conversation can end happily, my mother has a knack for finding the good in an interpretation of things. I could tell her that I got fired and by the end of the conversation be convinced that I was better off if they didn't recognize my genius. (by the way, she WASN'T right about me being a genius)
4. Savor every minute of your children's childhood. Savor it. It all goes so fast and every minute of it is a gift. I really have tried and am sooooo glad she told me.
5. Try every day to be better than you were the day before. My mother is constantly striving to be a better person, wife, mother and especially Christian. She's never once sat back and been satisfied with how far she's come, she's always improving.
6. Pray. a lot.
7. Sprinkle a little humor into every day. My Mom's a funny gal, but more importantly she's easy to make laugh. Once she gets going it's fun just to watch her try to stop.
8. Don't cook when you can go out. Does that need an explanation?
9. Boys who didn't like me were too short for me anyway. What one thing has to do with the other...I have no idea. I think it's in the same vein as the serenity prayer but with a more practical application.
10. If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. While she didn't coin the phrase she quoted it in a way that made you believe. I mimic her in my own little happy home with this phrase all of the time.
Who loves you Mom? It's me. The funny one.