I'm glad I have a mom. I'm glad I have the mom that I have. She has taught me more than she would ever give herself credit for. I thought it was about time she heard about a few of the things she's taught me (or at least remind her of how she's impacted my life in big and little ways alike).
the art of pinning socks together
In the McMichael house, we always had a little pin cushion or a dish for holding safety pins in our bathroom. The idea was simple: take off dirty socks, pin them together, throw them in the dirty clothes. They would get washed (together), dried (together), sorted (together) and put away (together). If these steps were followed (which was really just one step), one would never find themselves wondering what happened to all those one socks that went missing. Admittedly, this is a lesson I am not putting into practice but I wish that I was. Taking the little bit of time to pin the socks together (all of 10 seconds) would save exponential amounts of time spent sorting and searching, not to mention all of the heartache over what to do with the single socks that remain.
the art of thoughtfulness
One of the things I appreciate most about my mom is the way she cares about each of her four kids - and our spouses - and her grandkids. If it's within her power, she always has "something special" for us at a meal or family gathering just because she knows it's our favorite. Banana pudding for Jonathan. Reese's Cups (and various other candy!) for Nick. That's all I can think of -- apparently I'm not as thoughtful as she is because I don't know everyone's favorite! I still have more to learn from her.
the art of always carrying a snack
She always had the little brown bag with the stop light and some clever words on it. I may not remember what the bag says (I bet she could...or I bet she could find the bag because she also has the gift of not getting rid of anything that has the potential to be useful - so, unless that bag disintegrated or was eaten by an animal, I would bet good money that it can be found on Johnson Street in Warrenton, Georgia -- my money would be that it's in the pantry in the kitchen...maybe even on the left hand side) but I remember the contents - healthy snack options...most likely peanut butter crackers, maybe some raisins or sunflower seeds. There's no telling how many meltdowns were avoided (and money was saved) by making good use of the snacks in her little brown stop light bag. (she also had the little ziplock of gum that was useful during church...that 1/2 of piece of gum - so that chewing would be minimal - was such a welcomed sight in the middle of a sermon!). The tradition continues, it's a rare occassion to find me without a snack close by (some may think it's for my kids...but it's for me, too!).
the art of getting every last drop out of the bottle
I don't know if I ever would've known that I had another week's worth of shampoo or lotion in the bottle or more butter to be used if it weren't for my mom (who knows, maybe I would've figured it out on my own...but how long would it have taken and how much would I have wasted before I learned?!). Instead of throwing away a container that was seemingly empty, she would often cut off the top (or bottom) and was then able to use the rest of the product inside. This lesson came in very handy just this week with my concealer - I thought I was out...but was so happy to cut off the bottom and find many more days worth! My mom knew life hacks before life hacks were a thing.
the art of thank you note writing
"Dear Mrs. Jean, Thank you for the gift. I like it and it will be very useful. Love, Dianna" was never ever going to cut it for a thank you note from me in my mother's world (nor should it!). I am so thankful that my mom taught me how to be specific in my thank you's (maybe she planted alot of the seeds that have grown into my thankful lists and the heart of most of the blogs that I post here). The art behind thank you notes according to Sandra was basically be very specific in exactly what you were thankful for and how that gift would be used - and to use the entire card (and not just by writing bigger). This is probably the lesson that I'm most thankful for - and the one I use most.
Happy Mother's Day, Mama. Thank you for giving your best and loving us well. You are special and I'm glad you're my mom. See you in 3 weeks!!!!
