As an early Mother’s Day present, I wanted to write a little bit about my wonderful mother and the things she has gone through from marrying into this crazy family. I already told the story about what happened when my mother first had dinner with my father’s family (read about that here) but for some reason, she had a lapse of judgement and ended up getting married and giving birth to three more crazies. She has handled the kookiness with grace, despite some of the more interesting things we have put her through.

Crazy Antics

My siblings and I used to fight. Like crazy fist fight kind of fight. I’m actually not sure how we all survived intact to adulthood. My mom endured years and years of us at each other’s throats. We used to chase each other around the dining room table and if someone was stupid enough to run outside, we would quickly lock the door and refuse to let them back in.

One time when my mom went back to work in August and we were still home, my sister called the school and had my mom pulled out of a meeting to tell her Mason ate her french fries.

We rode all of the laundry baskets down the stairs and broke them. I’m pretty sure Mason rode one down at the age of 22 and broke it also. It is pretty difficult because after the first four stairs you have to take a hard right or you smash into the wall.

Crappy Gifts

Sometimes, we got my mom some great presents. Bracelets, necklaces, a self-propelled lawn mower which, believe it or not was something she really wanted, were all presents we gave one year or another. But the only Mother’s Day I really, really remember with my mom was the year we forgot to get her a present.

After our usual morning at church, my dad drove us to ShopKo to buy my mom a gift. My poor mother had to sit in the car and wait for us as we picked through the shelves to find something for her. The only thing we could come up with was a foot bath and a white towel. (The foot bath was fine, but the white towel went over like a lead balloon. My parents have well water, so I’m sure it quickly turned a lovely shade of orange.)

Activity After Activity After Activity

Between my sister, brother, and I, I am sure we tried every activity my home town had to offer. That means my mom sat through cold hockey practices, scorching hot soccer games, and pouring rain marching band parades. She got up at the crack of dawn to do my makeup and drive me to dance competitions. She volunteered to work bake sales, ride in the waterskiing boat and sell candy bars to support us. She drove us to the arena before school and missed her favorite shows to pick us up at the end of practice.

But as busy as we got, she was still our biggest supporter. She would cheer from the stands and smile from the audience as we performed our hearts out.

Hospital Visits

My family has the weirdest accidents and illnesses. My mom has been through it all with us. Some of the more weird stuff includes:

• A burst appendix
• Shingles
• Road rash from a motorcycle accident
• An arm broken into an “S” shape
• A hand being almost completely severed by a saw

 The Next Generation

Now, my mom is a grandma. And let me just say that Mac loves her Zippy. And Zippy is one of the two best grandmas Mac has 🙂

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!! We love you!