Sunday, May 13, 2007

Musings on Motherhood

Happy Mother’s Day! As I’m getting ready to go out and celebrate the day, I’ve been pondering motherhood. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

Things I learned from my mother
(photo circa 1968)

-Crafting is a vital part of life.
My mom taught me to incorporate crafting into my everyday life. She is amazingly talented and in my lifetime has successfully mastered sewing, knitting, tolling, quilling, embroidery, crewel-work, line-drawing, rug hooking and quilting.

-Listen with attention and compassion.
As a kid I noticed that everybody wanted to talk to my mom because of her great capacity to truly listen and care about people.

-Aways take oranges when you visit someone for the first time.
Especially if they are Chinese. My mom worked diligently to teach my sister and me good manners. I don’t always behave properly, but that’s due to my failings and not my mother’s.

Things I’ve learned as a mother

-It’s true. The laundry is not going to do itself.

-Hugs and kisses from my daughters make inevitable stickiness worthwhile.

-Mothering has made me a better (albeit sometimes grumpier) person.

Things I hope to teach my children

-It’s better to be kind than nice.

-It’s better to be stylish than fashionable.

-That they are wonderful, special and incredibly important people. But not more so than anybody else.


I hope everybody has a lovely Mother's Day!


5 comments:

Liz Smith said...

Your mom sounds amazing! Isn't it the best to have a creative mom? Now your kids are lucky too :)

I would love to receive oranges from a guest! I'm going to start doing that.

Liz

maia (glassbeach) said...

Yes, my mom is great! I feel very lucky to have her.

I'll be sure to bring you oranges when I come and visit!

Sweet Olive Press | Helen said...

Amen to all that. I can tell your mum was lovely outside and in.

Steph said...

What a wonderful list.

maia (glassbeach) said...

Thanks Helen and Steph!