Hi, everyone! I feel so blessed to be able to share my mom's posts with you each week, and especially tonight as she shares some fun memories of her own mom. Motherhood has been, and will continue to be, one of life's greatest blessings and challenges for me. Our children carry little pieces of us with them, even into adulthood, whether we realize it or not. Making the moments count...that is what makes all the difference! Read, share, and enjoy! Shannon :-)
My Type “O” Mom
I recently came to the realization that in my writings I have not yet mentioned my mom or her influences in my life. Although she was not flawless, overall she was a good mom. However as I sit here, truly I cannot quickly identify any of her mighty influences on me today.
She was not a mom with a Type A personality. She was not openly enthusiastic about projects. She did not possess a passion for anything musical or even a real drive for any athletic events. She never entered the work force but remained a stay-at-home mom. By her own admissions, she struggled scholastically in high school and later took a job only because of the demands of WW2. Even then, she understood only a small portion of the politics of the day.
But she loved words, and word games, and especially the word puzzles from the daily newspaper!!!! I do have vivid memories of her eagerly working crossword puzzles, while often saying the words in a sentence out loud. Inadvertently, my daddy would playfully glance over the evening paper he was reading and give her the correct answer. This would always “infuriate” her, and as a result her word game was ruined, as was our quality family time!!!!!
After much reflection, I have now determined my mom’s personality - she was a Type “0.” O for Orderly!!!
Up at 5 AM, home-made, double-knit pantsuits—complete with polished shoes ready to go in her closet—double S & H green stamps every Wednesday from the local Piggly Wiggly grocery store shopping and double applications of Johnson’s paste wax on all our hardwood floors on Thursdays!
Our supper was always at 5:30 PM!!! Grilled steaks every Friday night, Len Berg’s take out on Saturday, and roast every Sunday after church. Nightly kitchen clean up and baths by 7 PM, with no flexibility. Saturday nights were always especially painful, because that was the night that my hair was washed, set with curlers, and wave clips placed painfully across the back of my head—Every Saturday Night!
Oh, and our Christmas tree was always by the road ready for pickup early in the AM the day after Christmas…with no exceptions.
Everything running on a schedule and in its proper place was the motto of my Type “O” mom. (And to be completely honest, that aspect of her mighty influence was certainly lost on me once I became a mother!!!!)
In thinking back, it’s amazing how much time she did actually spend with her faithful crosswords in hand, waiting for me at doctors’ offices, school functions, cheerleading practices, and piano or dance lessons. She was never a drop-off mom or a pick-you-up-later mom, but always the stick-around-and-work-a-puzzle-while-you-wait mom!!!!
Truthfully, I do have sweet memories of her on school class trips with our “matching homespun dresses” which she had proudly made. In addition, she patiently sat through all my ballet practices—volunteering to help hem simple recital costumes—and she devotedly worked every single VBS I ever attended, putting precisely 2 butter cookies on the napkins for all of us kids to eat as she poured us each our allotted one cup of grape Kool Aid.
And, did I mention, she was always at my school?! Being the school Historian, she recorded precisely everything as it occurred, on schedule, and in its proper place (remember Mom’s motto).
In retrospect, now I realize that she dedicated a lot of her time and life to being where I was. She was never in the forefront leading and never in the spotlight shining; she was just there—waiting for me.
And she was not just patiently waiting for me to appear, but anxiously watching for my safe return. Do you see the difference there? I just did.
I see the Type “O” mom that waited for me, but also the loving mom that watched over me. She didn’t take me places that she wanted to go, but she came to the places I was. She wasn’t obsessively working puzzles waiting, but she was selflessly giving her time watching over me. She was not in the forefront leading or the spotlight shining; I was. She was keeping everything running on a schedule and in its proper place…for me.
In retrospect, maybe my Type “O” Mom with her trusty “motto,” was a indeed a more “mighty” influence on my life than I first realized. I smile as I consider that I, like her, find great pleasure in words. No, not word searches and crosswords, but using words to tell my stories!!
Oh, to be so purposed to maintain that discipline in our own lives that enables our children to lead and shine for the Lord! Isn’t it amazing that the selfless God of the universe has the Type “O” characteristics, not just in His perfect order, but also in His Omnipresence?! He is the Omnipresence that watches over us and keeps order for our lives that we too might lead and shine…for His glory!
Blessings, Anne (AKA Mimi)
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