Mothers- October 14, 2012
My handsome Guest Blogger returns! My husband Greyson is writing for his mother’s birthday today. I’m very blessed to have a mother-in-law like Dottie. She is a doll who makes life more fun with her sharp wit and generous hospitality. Oh, and Greyson acts just. like. his. mama. Seriously. All the funny things I love about him, he got from her. Happy Birthday Dottie!
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a tribute to my dad for his 65th birthday.
Today, it is time to honor my mom. Yep, my parents were born 10 days apart.
In the post about my father, I described our relationship and the closeness we’ve always shared.
However, to be honest, I am more like my mother than my father. First off, I look more like my mom’s side of the family. My sisters look like my dad’s side of the family. But more than anything, I share many of my mom’s mannerisms.
I didn’t really realize this until I married Amy. She points it out often. Especially, since we’ve hadCharlotte.
There is one similarity I’m especially proud of. My mom has a terrific way of listening to you and making you feel like what you are saying is valuable. And she does this just as well with kids as she does with adults.
I admired how she is able to have very thoughtful conversations with my 6 year old niece Hollin. Hollin often wants to go to DeeDee (that is what all of the grandchildren call my mom), to have a “serious” talk.
Sometimes this includes showing Deedee a picture or some other achievement. DeeDee goes beyond the usual praise and finds a particular detail….perhaps the use of a certain color in a picture, to highlight and discuss.
It is never condescending, and always sincere. It makes you feel special and it makes you want to share more.
I find that I do this with Charlotte. Certainly, she is my little girl, and there is time for snuggling, and being silly. ButCharlottehas a real intensity to her. She has tremendous focus. And she wants to be taken seriously. To her, putting her dolls or stuffedSesame Streetcharacters to bed is very real.
I talk to her about it like she is a person, not my baby girl. As her speech and vocabulary continues to grow, I’m noticing that it is at these times, she doesn’t want to share a simple pharse like “My baby”, but rather string together many words….some of which are new and hard to understand, but she is comfortable and engaged.
She wants to share more, and it makes me glad to be like my mom.
Thanks DeeDee, and Happy Birthday.
DeeDee with our niece, Hollin in 2010 showing us how fun life can be.
Whoa!!! You got me good on this one!!!! Not only are you Oh.so.accurate. But you brought my peanut in… Wow!!! Balling my eyes out now and u have read it three times
Thank you, thank you!!! Your loving thoughts mean so much to me, and my appreciation for them is endless.
There is no greater honor for a parent than to have your children single out a quality in you they admire and to grow not only to cherish it, but also to mirror it. Supporting my children with conversations was/is always time well spent!
Parents, too, just as their children, need support, and to have that from your children is the greatest gift of all. Listening to my children as they grew gave me insight I would never have discovered without them. The way they saw the world always gave me new perspective on my own world. Hope and sadness, victory and disappointment, making choices and pursuing dreams, all took on additional meanings. Listening to them made my world “more whole” and complete.
I have been blessed with three extraordinarily special children, and love them all unconditionally. That love miraculously multiplys with their spouses and their children. What they each offer to the world is uncompromising generosity and caring. Each, in their own way, has given, and continues to give, love and joy to those around them. They are rentless in this, but it comes effortlessly and automatically.
With this reflection in mind, and knowing that with each coming day I will glean more and more from listening to them, I must say, getting older ain’t so bad…
Love to all, Mom