2. your spot-on gift giving of the right thing at the right time
3. passing on your love of folk music record albums
4. and flea market junk shops covered in kudzu
5. letting me do dumb things to my hair because hey, it’s just hair
7. you took me to see my very first theater movie and it was Raiders of the Lost Ark
8. you took me to meet Darth Vader when RotJ came out
9. you chaperoned my field trips
10. you volunteered at my school
11. those awesome carnivals at Solomon
12. those outfits and scrapbooks you tried making
13. you didn’t make me wear those bubble suits
14. you made me wait til Jr High for makeup
15. and leg-shaving, no matter how I clamored in 5th and 6th grade
16. the year of the 7 Easter Dresses because they were all so awesome we couldn’t choose just one
17. all the hard work and help for my first wedding
18. all the hard work and help for my second wedding
19. getting on a scary plane to be there at my second wedding
20. loving Noah so so much
21. being a dog-lover
22. helping keep my hamster alive when she had breast cancer
23. helping keep Marty alive when she got hit by a car
24. keeping scary adult things to yourself when I was too young to be exposed to them
25. flirting with my dad all the time
26. board games!
27. making chicken and dumplins for my friends
28. letting me drag Carrie along anytime we went to Phenix City/Columbus to visit family
29. Chrysalis
30. driving me all over the place until I was 21
31. helping me move to Asbury
32. helping me move BACK from Asbury
33. coming to visit me while I was at Asbury
34. letting me hop on a plane and go to Honduras without you
35. white water rafting, lightning storm tubing with us and braving the bugs in TN
36. heading up Girl Scouts in Hawai’i
37. and Alabama (man I bet that’s a lot of work)
38. super fun best birthday parties ever
39. sleepovers in the summers that lasted for weeks at a time!
40. your thick dark hair
41. and your pretty eyes!
42. your always awesome fingernails
43. your love of diversity
44. and tolerance
45. and humanity
46. that time you called me “MITCH”
47. not trying to make YOUR fears, MY fears
48. your long voicemails
49. red velvet cake
50. bratwurst and German potato salad on my birthday every year
51. coke and milk
52. Roger Rabbit; my first drive-in movie with you and dad in the Chevette (I was still awake when Cocktail came on, too, but I don’t think you guys noticed. but maybe you did.)
53. Chuck E Cheese for my 16th birthday and not making me feel too dumb about it 🙂
54. back to school shopping; must have been QUITE a chore for you.
55. not murdering teenage Janet
56. not EVER making me feel like you didn’t love me just like I was, or you didn’t want to be my mom
57. Easter baskets well into my 20’s
58. and Christmas stockings, too
59. your amazing contagious laugh
60. when people tell me I’m just like you .. and “whimsical” and “funny” are the two words they use most often
61. your broad, super sense of humor
62. your hugs that feel like home
63. your never-ending belief in my potential (even now!)
64. ‘RISE AND SHIIIIINE” sung at the crack of dawn. not.
65. ‘away in a manger’ and dootselling (sp?)
66. terrific breakfast every school morning for 12 years
67. never making me feel I had to worry about money
68. but not spoiling me and getting me every darn thing I wanted
69. forgiving my dumb mistakes time and again
70. and not allowing them to change your view of me
71. always praying for us, Will and Noah and me.
72. coming to rescue me the first time I ever babysat a baby.
73. not trying to taint my relationships with anyone just because YOUR relationship with them wasn’t positive.
74. letting me try my hand at ballet, gymnastics, etc…even if it never panned out
75. not liking peanut butter, cheese, or chocolate because hey, more for me!
76. your love of Lemon Love’s Baby Soft
77. manners. and phone manners. respect for everyone (obviously, unless they do things to lose it)
78. thank you notes!
79. chores & allowances
80. teaching me that in life bad behavior = you’re going to have a bad time.
81. and good behavior = you’re going to have a good time
82. decorating for Christmas all together
83. all your bunnies all over the house
84. letting me watch the Simpsons and In Living Color with you guys on Sunday nights
85. NOT being the kind of mom who leads her daughters to believe skinny and covered in makeup is the only way to be pretty
86. your love of TOYS
87. ..and butterflies and curly hair
88. and soft blankies and babies
89. and sweet tea and irises
90. …and framed photos
91. and singing cards and dancing snowmen
92. and comfort food and Pixar movies
93. and liverwurst and cream cheese sandwiches
94. and driving fast and taking naps…
95. and reading in bed and Christmas lights
96. and funny movies and long books
97. …and Butterfingers
98. and the under-dog and the downtrodden
99. awesome cars and comfy shoes
100. and hopefully 100 (or more) other things I’ve inherited from you…
the last several years have taught me that parenting is HARD and no one – nobody – does it perfectly (just like being a kid is hard, and no one does it perfectly)…
but if you can be loving, and forgiving and funny and giving, interested and interesting, calm in the storm and exciting when you can be, intelligent and open-minded, well-read and worldly, (mostly) patient and always encouraging…then you’re the perfectest mom there is, and you’re a lot like MY mom.
xo
cleverwhatever 
You must be logged in to post a comment.