SURVEY SAYS: Childhood Memories of Mom

Yesterday was Mother’s Day.

In honor of the event, last week, I asked NewsDash readers, what is your favorite childhood memory of your Mom—it could be rituals, quirks, sayings or a specific event.

I was surprised by such a small number of responses, but perhaps most readers were like the one who said: “I went through many and couldn’t pick one ‘favorite’. Nice prep for Sunday!”

But, among the responses received, quite a few were touching and some were funny. All responses remind us that Mom is special and there’s a reason we set a day aside to celebrate her. There’s no Editor’s Choice this week; every comment tied.

A big thank you to all who shared in this week’s survey!

Verbatim 

Actually, this memory is of my Grandmother, my Mom's mom, who lived with us - she always sang when she came in to wake me up --- there may be fortunes waiting; there may be debts to pay, so get up, get up and meet the sun halfway!

Her eyes closed, head on her chest, a peaceful slumber while eight children were out getting ice cream with dad.

cuddling

making Christmas cookies

So many years have gone by since Mum passed. One of my favorite memories is, surprisingly, when she would be mad at one of us kids. At the height of her frustration she would yell at the offender, "Do Not make my press my belly-button and send you back where you came from!" I think I was terrified of her belly-button until I was about 10 years old! Used it on my children...LOL! They just snort at me, then laugh and tell their friends!

When my sister and I would wake on Valentine's morning, there would be a gift on the floor outside our bedroom doors, Usually Snoopy branded items for me.

Coming from a big family, Mom had 7 kids and a large extended family I always loved sitting around hearing the tales of earlier days. And it was always touching to hear mom tell some special memory about me that I was too young to remember.

While not a favorite memory, since I was on my way toward becoming a world-class procrastinator my mother always told me, "Time waits for no man". She's been gone 10 years now and I think of her every day - and generally take care of business timely. MIss you Mom!

My mother is a wonderful parent. One of my favorite childhood memories of her is that she owned a kitchen hammer. It was brought out on special occasions to be used, with a large fork, to separate frozen raw steaks from one another. I have no idea why she never seemed to remember to defrost the steaks a day ahead of time since she always planned meals and cooked for our family every day, but I always knew that if she was using the kitchen hammer we were having steak for dinner!

She was always there for you and would never let you down. She wore mommy googles when it came to her kids being the smartest, cutest, and best children and we were blessed to have her with us for 95 years. I miss her every day!

When I was young my mom and I would go shopping. She never bought anything for herself, she always spent her hard earned money (which there was not much after paying for necessities) letting me get what I wanted. I asked her one time why she never bought anything and she told me "because it is so much more fun buying for you". It wasn't until I had a child of my own that I really understood what she meant.

Verbatim (cont.) 

I went through many and couldn't pick one "favorite". Nice prep for Sunday!

My Mom would periodically recite the poem 'The Goops' at the dinner table from memory to encourage us to have better table manners

Having raised seven children, Sunday was one of the few days my mom had the chance to rest. My favorite memories are spending Sunday's playing board games, having picnics, and just enjoying family time.

Whenever we would pass by a church where a wedding was taking place, my mom would say "They'll be sorry". It wasn't until I was I teenager that I realized this wasn't the most appropriate response for this situation. But since my dad never took offense ...

My mom always kept a beautiful vegetable garden in the back yard. She grew many different vegetables and always made it seem like fun, instead of work, when she "let" us help her in the garden. We were poor, but my 3 siblings and I never knew it until we were grown. My favorite memory was when Mom would make a big deal about us eating only what we had grown in our garden. She made it seem like it was the best thing in the world. Little did we know that she did not have the money for meat or other groceries. Mom's gone now, but to this day, my siblings and I all have a garden and even though we are no longer poor, from time to time we still have great meals with food only from the gardens in our own backyards. I'm grateful to Mom for teaching us that even though we were poor, we were never poor in spirit!

My Mom had all of these memorable sayings and phrases designed to make you think or impart wisdom. For instance she would say "Familiarity breeds contempt" and "Children should be seen and not heard". Those lessons aren't shared in our modern society.

My mother occasionally would wake me up by singing the "Good Morning to You" song. It was a very nice way to wake up, and as she only did it when she was in a good mood, I knew that we would have a nice day.

Mom had a way of turning even everyday events into a party! On cold, blustery days she'd have fresh cookies waiting when we got home from school and it was not unusual for her to have made up some kind of game for us - nothing extravagant, just fun. Like hiding red buttons around the house and the one who found the most got to choose if they were going to wash or dry dishes that evening. With 7 kids we never had extra money but we were rich in love and fun.

Christmas baking! My mom was an amazing cook and baker. At Christmas, she would make 20 kinds of cookies and 20 kinds of candies, then make gift trays. Many went to people without families or who just couldn't make homemade things anymore. That's small-town Iowa. And lots of warm fuzzies for the heart.

A favorite memory among many would be the times when she would dress me up (with hat and gloves of course) and we would go shopping downtown at the department stores, having lunch at the "Tea Room". It always was a special time together for just the two of us.

The 4th of July parade always went by our house as a kid. My mom's birthday was the 5th. We always had a big gathering of friends and families. One year my mom, who was very young when she started her family, dressed up as a cheerleader with a blond wig, balloons strategically placed, and cheered every float and band that went by the house. This memory captures her fun loving, who cares what other people think spirit, which I wish I had more of... Thanks for helping me to remember this.

The four of us teased our youngest brother mercilessly about being a mistake that our parents didn't want because he was 5 years younger, and the rest of us were only 3 years apart. When he went crying to our mom that we said he was a mistake that they didn't want, my mom replied, "You were all mistakes and we didn't want any of you." I'm pretty sure she was kidding - but with 5 kids, maybe not.

 

NOTE: Responses reflect the opinions of individual readers and not necessarily the stance of Asset International or its affiliates.
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