Mother May I?

It's just a few days until Mother's Day, so in honor therefore our leader Joyce has come up with Hodgepodge questions that relate to mothers.   Check them out, and my answers.

1, Share something you appreciate (or something you appreciated as you were growing up) about your mother. 

My mother was a stay at home mother most of the years I was growing up.  I appreciated the fact that she was waiting at home to see me after each school day.  It wasn't that she had warm brownies waiting, or that she wanted to hear every detail of my day…it was more for me just the comfort in knowing she was home.  It was just a safe feeling and a good one knowing she was there.  I wasn't alone.

I also appreciated her devotion to her husband and to us kids.  She was involved with church activities and worked part-time a few times in her life, but she never placed more importance on anything she had to do outside of the family unit.

2.  A quote most commonly ascribed to Plato reads "Necessity is the mother of invention."  When did this last play out in your own experiences? 

I certainly understand plato's quote when it comes to needing to change to make things better for us all…such as:  how/why electricity was invented, how/why laws get enacted, and how/why safety guidelines are created for all people.  I'm having a tougher time seeing in my own life how I have needed to "invent" something to make my life easier, or safer.  I have always lived by the motto of "everything in moderation" and I am happy to go with what life offers without having to create something new.

3.  Share one of your earliest memories you have from childhood. 

Well, I can't recall memories as far back as my sister can!  She's the one that remembers more of our growing up years - she's older and I suppose that helps.  ( ;   But…one of my first memories was when I was 5 years old and went to kindergarten at Caledonia Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.  I remember my mother buying me a "mat" or more like a little rug for unrolling and for taking a nap on while in school. I think we had a ten minute "break" in the morning…and laid on our mats, couldn't talk,  and the teacher would turn off the overhead lights so we could just lay still and rest.

4. When did you last hit 'the mother lode' What was it? 

Tough question without getting all mushy and saying I hit the 'mother lode' when I married my hubby.   I got a wonderful man, friend, father, provider, who's smart and funny, good looking and loves me back.  That's definitely hitting the mother lode!

 5. What is/was your favorite dish mom made?  Do you make that dish for your family/friends now that you're all grown up? 

My mother had a few favorite dinner meals I enjoyed… pepper steak and rice, tuna casserole with potato chip crumbles, and apple dumplings. I have made the casserole dish, once or twice many years ago - it wasn't a big hit with my daughters.  I have not made the other two dinner dishes. I'm not much of a cook.

But, my family has passed down a sugar cookie recipe that I use each Christmas. I think it's from my Dad's side of the family, but my mother used the recipe as I was growing up.

6.  Mother may I? was at one time a popular children's game.  It required no equipment or parts to play.  What was your favorite childhood game when you could just turn up and play - no gear required? 

I think I played my share of "tag" as a kid….on our street where I lived in Cleveland Heights, and also when we visited my grandparents in Anna, Ohio. It was a rural area and we would play "tag" with our cousins.

7.  Which TV mom (past or present) is your favorite?  And why? 

I tend to enjoy watching the funny TV moms… perhaps because I am able to relate to some of the crazy things that happen in their families and I enjoy the humor in dealing with life.  So, I like the mom Patricia Heaton plays on "The Middle" and Julie Bowen's mom character on "Modern Family."  I even love Julia Louis-Dreyfas as a neurotic mom in "The New Life of the Old Christine."

8.  My random thought. 

I still feel strange when I go into a drug store or into a Hallmark store this time of year, when the Mother's Day cards are in the racks… knowing that I don't have a living mom to send a care to.  It's been 10 years,  but yet, when this time of year comes around it hits and it makes me think about that circle of life.  Now, I am the mom…and one day may (hopefully) be a grand mom.

It's an odd feeling to see how time marches on, and to know that both my mother and my mother-in-law are gone, and that I AM NOW the generation responsible…the one to make the holiday plans and to organize family get-togethers, etc.   It truly is a circle of life!