Yesterday was Mothers Day. You all know that. I don’t live near my mom, so I was sad I wasn’t able to take her out for breakfast or spend the day with her, but I’d love to honour her today by sharing some life lessons that my mom instilled in me.
I’ve only mentioned it on Twitter and never on here, but my mom discovered my blog.
I thought I was being so sly, covering up my tracks and being little miss anonymous. But not so much. When I went home for Easter, we sat out on the back porch sipping wine and giggling over our pups when she told me she had to tell me something. I would have never guessed that the next words that came out of her mouth would be “I know about your blog”.
I burst into tears (yeah, dramatic) and asked her if she was mad. Yes, I asked her if she was mad at me. I thought she’d be upset with me for keeping my blog – my proverbial “baby” – a secret for almost a year and a half. She told me she wasn’t, and that she was proud of me, and we moved on.
I thought having somebody so close to me know about this little internet nook would be detrimental to it’s success. It hasn’t been. Nothing’s changed, really, except that every night I ask the universe to spare me from people I know finding out about the blog before I’m ready.
I digress. The real reason I’m writing this post is to share with you a few things that my mother taught me in life, in light of mothers day. She’ll read this, probably, and I hope she does. ‘Cause she’s my hero.
When I was young, my parents divorced. This left my mother with two young children, in a small town with limited financial resources. My mom commuted for three hours to get to her job every day, struggling to make ends meet with a mortgage, her kids (one of them being a growing boy who ate more than one can imagine), and not enough time on her hands.
She was super mom to the extreme. My mom was my team’s soccer coach, and a girl scout leader. She was our personal chauffer, bringing us to (at any given time, and usually all in the same week): figure skating, soccer (both of us, different teams), boy scouts (him), girl scouts (me), dance class (2 separate types, 2 separate nights – me), karate (him), swimming lessons (both of us, different classes), art lessons (him), skiing and snowboarding (both), basketball (both of us, different times), track n’ field, and obviously play dates, school functions, craft fairs, bake sales, field trips, birthday parties, volunteer work, school plays, and the like.
All while working full-time. With a three hour commute.
This is the same woman who – with all of this, doing it by herself – managed to go to the gym almost every day and never missed a soccer game, a dance recital, or a karate tournament; always had a healthy dinner on the table for us and kept a clean, comfortable home.
She managed to raise two pretty awesome kids (if I do say so myself 😉 ) and taught me a lot of important life lessons.
- Work Hard
My mom obviously had a really good work ethic and passed that down to both my brother and me. She led by example, never complaining that she didn’t have enough time to do something that she valued. She always told us to work hard and go to school so we could have a good life when we were grown up.
- Be Independent
- Be Healthy
- You Can’t Bring Money With You
Your mom sounds like a super-mom indeed, Daisy.. It is amazing that you and your brother were able to participate in so many different activities even with a single mom who was working full time. Very impressive! Hopefully you still get to visit with her often, being that you live several hours away.
The lessons that you have learned have you setup well for life.. I especially like the last one. 🙂
Y
I am glad your mom wasn’t upset when she discoverd your blog.
Mom’s are awesome, I had a wonderful time with mine yesterday. My Fiancé and I brought both our moms out together, it was great!
Aww this is cute and I love that picture! I could never tell my mom about my blog, but that’s pretty much a given.
These are some really great mom lessons – great tribute. My parents know about my blog, but not many others do – I’d like to keep it that way.
That picture is priceless Daisy! Reminds me of my wife and daughter on a trip to Disneyland. Sounds like you had a nice Mother’s Day!
I love hearing about other single mom’s like mine who went above and beyond to give their children an awesome childhood. That’s crazy that she did all that with a 3 hour commute to work. I know I wouldn’t be able to pull that off. How did your mom find out about your blog? I guess it’s your boyfriend’s mom that you really don’t want finding out about this lol.
Being able to do so much you’re mom does sound pretty amazing.
Awwww. Your mom sounds a lot like mine. Supermom! I swear I don’t know how they do it. But I appreciate mine so much. Thanks for linking my lessons 🙂
I think we share a lot of the same characteristics because our mothers are veryyyyy similar. I told my mom about my blog too but she didn’t even ask about it haha. She would probably kill me and say that I’m opening myself up to identity theft by saying where I bank…. ahhh, oh well.
I wasn’t able to see my mom yesterday either since she lives 8 hours away. But I’m sure our moms know they are luuuuurved by such AWESOME daughters 🙂
Your mom sounds a lot like my mom—I grew up in a similar situation 🙂 My mom was pretty awesome, she drives me crazy sometimes but really I don’t know how she did what she did.
My mom thinks it’s cute that I blog—I don’t think she really “gets” it, my sister showed it to her once but she doesn’t actually read it or anything.
Great tribute to your Mom! She sounds like an incredible woman! The picture of the two of you is adorable!
You’re very lucky to have a mom who taught you and your brother some great valuable life lessons. Now, I see where you get your spunk, determination, independence, and high-level of intelligence.
I’m sorry that you weren’t able to share Mother’s Day with her. However, what’s most important is the love and admiration that you both have for each other.
Your mom sounds awesome! I am impressed with how kindly she reacted to your blog. Your blog is very personal but it’s not mean, so there’s no reason for her to be mad!
Sounds like you had “SUPER MOM” growing up… and still is 😛 Thanks for sharing, and thank your mom for raising such a great blogger 😉
good job, mom! 🙂
Your mom rocks!! I grew up for most of my life with a single mom so I totally understand how incredible single moms are. That is wild about your mom finding out about your blog! A select few people in my family know about mine and I hope it doesn’t expand either. Lol. Not that I say bad thigs about my family but it’s just weird. I prefer being mostly anonymous. 🙂
Holy moly! Your mother is amazing. As one myself, I cannot imagine getting all those things done. (Maybe she bought a time machine at the future shop and gave herself 8 more hours every day. :p) Seriously, though, she sounds so incredible and I’m so glad you shared her story.
Your mom is amazing! So glad you shared this with us all!
That is amazing. You have such a good mother. It’s sounds like no matter what she always put you and your brother first. I loved the story Daisy, and I am sure your mom did too.
Aww great post!
what a heartwarming post! sound like your mom was amazing =)
(… and now I’m scared that MY mom will find our blog!)
I love hearing stories about people who embraced challenge and never let it get in their way. Your mom sounds like a pretty amazing person.
Great, great lessons. And great post. I’m sure your Mom is really proud.
Great mothers day tribute! She sounds great! WHat made me laugh was when she had something to tell you… it sounded serious… and then… “I know about your blog.” Hahaha. THe leadup made it sound like she was going to say she knows about some deep, dark, murderous, treacherous, murky secret. 🙂 How did she find out, BTW?
I was a huge fan of Dumbo, too. Of course, the ride with the longest line was my favorite….great testament to your mom, this post.
Your mom sounds amazing! Great tribute to her – I love the lessons she taught you.
I love, love, loooove this post. She’s most likely bursting with pride after reading this because it’s obvious she did a great job raising you!
What a great tribute to such an amazing Mom!She’s such an inspiration. I know how you feel about not being able to take her out on Mother’s Day-my Mom lives on the other side of the world from me 😕 But your Mom sounds a lot like mine too.I sure hope to have just a fracture of her amaziness ( I know it’s not a real word 😉 )in the eyes of my own kids.
That’s a great pic of you two. Your mom sounds like quite an accomplished woman.
Your mom’s story has left me feeling inadequate but inspired. I’m going to do a bit more work, then peel myself off the couch and cook. After all, I only have myself to worry about.
Right – off to spend some time with my boys. Time to knock off for the day and build some memories like you have of your Mum
You can’t bring it with you. That’s for sure. Enjoy life. Isn’t it amazing how awesome moms are. they always find a way to make things work!
Sounds like you have a pretty awesome mom!! 🙂
Hats off to your mom Daisy. We need every mother to read about her story to get inspiration. She has proven that women are as capable as men in every respect. ” money is not what is important – it’s people that are important.” — amazing advice.
I think it’s awesome that you’re candid here even though your mom might be reading. Makes me realize I should be a little more private about family life/money history in the future JUST IN CASE mine ever does. Sigh.