Ten Things of Thankful: Lessons Learned from Mom Edition

Today is my mom's birthday. I couldn't have asked for a more patient, kind, dedicated, understanding, hard-working, devoted, loving mother. This post that I wrote 5 years ago is still appropriate today, so I'm going to re-run it:

Ten Things of Thankful: Lessons Learned from Mom Edition

Today is my mom's birthday, so today's Ten Things of Thankful is written in her honor.  

Ten Lessons I'm Thankful Mom Taught Me:

1.   It's important to think of others.  One of Mom's favorite questions to me was, "How would you feel?", meaning, "Try to put yourself in that person's shoes and be compassionate, patient, and kind."

2.  It's important to do your best, and if you've given your best effort, that's enough.  I distinctly remember being devastated with the first "B" on my report card, and Mom (and Dad) telling me that as long as I did my best, it was OK.  (I was a bit slow in figuring out that "best" meant "best while maintaining balance in life", but that was my misinterpretation of their advice, not a problem with the delivery.)

3.  It's important to work hard.  I don't know anyone who works harder than my mom.  She is thorough, she is quick, and she is accurate.  If she were a juggler, she'd be throwing balls, lighted torches, and sharp knives, all while balancing on a tightrope with her eyes closed. Yep, that's Mom.  I can hear her protesting now, but it's true!

4.  It's important to eat healthy foods (but homemade dessert is enjoyable, too.)  Mom fixes the best meals--nutritious and delicious.  And she feeds me raspberries every time I visit.  

5.  It's important to keep learning.  Mom researches like no one else.  If she has a question, she figures out the answer.  She even did this back in the pre-internet era.  Now it's easy: type a question, up pops an answer.  If the internet suddenly didn't exist, Mom could still find answers to her questions. 

6.  Family matters.  Not only does Mom keep track of her children and grandchildren, she pretty much knows all the leaves on the family tree.  Remember the movie, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", where the father could explain how any word has Greek origins?  Well, Mom can explain how anyone is related in our family tree.  He is the husband of grandma's second-cousin's daughter. 

7.  It is important to have fun.  I learned this over and over, while losing to Mom in Scrabble.  She takes top honors in sportsmanship, though, complimenting my 12-point word, while simultaneously placing all of her tiles on a triple-word square.  (OK, maybe I'm exaggerating--but not by much!)

8.  It's important to apologize.  Especially after deciding (Why?) to hide in your daughter's open closet, and realizing after the earth-shattering scream (Funny, I've never knew I had "primal scream" inside me) that perhaps this was a bad idea.  Don't worry, Mom.  I've long since forgiven you.  Now we can laugh about it.  You always were such the practical joker.  (NOT!)

9.  It's important to share new ideas.  Mom often calls me to tell me about a new recipe, a new cleaning tip, a new book, a new movie, etc.  

10.  It's important to live a life of integrity.  Mom is honest, and she lives what she believes.  She has never had to say, "Do what I say, not what I do."  She sets a great example for me. 

Happy birthday, Mom.  I hope you're having a great day.  I love you!

While those 10 things from 5 years ago still apply today, another exciting event happened this week:

I became a grandma to another little baby girl. (Now I have 3 granddaughters and 2 grandsons.) She's a little bit early, so will be in the NICU for a bit, but is doing well overall. 

Photo: My dark-haired granddaughter sleeps in an incubator in the NICU

As always, I'm thankful for John.

What are you thankful for this week? Comment below, and if you'd like, write a post to link up and share! Check out the posts others have written, too; this is a friendly community of bloggers.