Things My Mom Taught Me..

...whether through word or action. My mom taught me the following.

1. "Don't have children until you can afford to dress them well." This is an actual quote. It is a sad fact that most people respond to us based on appearance. My mom made the observation that people respond more to little ones who are dressed cute and are groomed. How you are treated as a child helps determine how you expect people to treat you as you grow up. If, as a child you are accustomed to people giving you positive reinforcing attention, then you will gain self-esteem and learn to expect others to treat you well. This probably originated from the fact that my mom had three little blonde cherub girls who she liked to dress alike. Everyone at church oohed and ahhed. My best friend agrees with my mom, since she has had her first child.

2. You can never make a first impression twice. This is why my mom encouraged me not to go into public without my hair fixed, makeup on and clothes cleaned and pressed. She said you never know who you might run into, and it is hard to change a first impression. While there have been many times, I have been out in town without being "fixed up", I can't remember a time my mother was ever seen in public without being perfectly turned out.

3. Be a lady. This is one I heard way too often. I actually didn't want to be a lady. I held disdain for the idea of being a lady. But as I've gotten older, I've changed my mind. I certainly don't want to be one of those snooty, air in the nose women who is afraid to get their hands dirty. But what my mom considered a lady, was a woman who was well-mannered, treated others with respect. made an uncomfortable situation comfortable, doesn't interrupt, who wrote letters and thank you cards, and never forgot a special occasion.

4. If you think something is clean enough, it isn't. You can always find a spot you missed on a window. A room is never clean until you have cleaned the baseboards. I learned how to really clean and to do an excellent job. I remember one day I spent several hours scrubbing my parents shower down. I had to scrub each individual grout line of the tile. Unfortuanately for me, this presents a quandary. I know how clean, clean is supposed to be, but I hate to clean. Thus I notice every little smudge and particle of dust, but I don't want to mess with it.

5. Be a good hostess. This I think relates to being a lady, but my mom always put such a strong emphasis on it that I listed it separately. This means that if you are having company your house is spotless and you have planned enough food and entertainment to keep everyone happy. The reverse of this is that if I am going to someone else's house, I always expect to bring something with me, if not a dish, then flowers or some type of hostess gift.

6. You can never have enough sleep. This I learned from watching. My mom took naps all the time and went to bed early.

7. When in doubt, or frustration or any other state, positive or negative, Pray. My mom taught me how to have a personal relationship with Jesus and how to pray. She also taught me the importance of forgiveness.

8. Scrambled eggs, grilled cheese and tomato soup, and popcorn make for great dinner foods. (although not necessarily together). I can't tell you how many nights my mom would make a huge bowl of popcorn with salt and butter and an enormous glass of juice and we would all sit on the couch and watch a movie together. Those were my favorite dinners.

9. Eating healthy is important. You can live without sugar. I don't even know if we had sugar in the house when I was small. If we needed a sweetener we used honey. I was the only kid in school who ate boiled eggs, plain yogurt, and veggies at snack time. Of course, these days I'm a sugarholic, which I directly link back to being deprived of sugar as a child.

10. Family is vital. I learned this from the way my mom spoke about her family and the amount of time we all spent together.

11. Dinner time is great family time. Most nights we all sat down to dinner together. It was a great time to catch up and share and talk. Some times this extended into "family council" time. This however being my dad's invention, wasn't quite as successful.

12. Make the man feel like the king of the castle. My mom never argued with my dad in front of us. If she disagreed, she waited to speak to him in private. She tried to have dinner ready or close to ready when my dad came home from work. She also had us pick up the house, so my dad would come home to a clean house. This is one I could use more instruction on. I'm pretty terrible at it.

13. Mom's recipes are always the best. This inludes lasagna, spaghetti, chili, potato soup and numerous casseroles. I've had these dishes many times at many places, but no one can make them like my mom.

14. Music influences your mood. My mom constantly had music playing in the house when I was growing up. Different music for different days and moods.

15.This last one I learned from my best friend's mom. I only heard her say this one time, but it made such an impression on me that I never forgot it. She said, "Sin shows on your face." This always came to mind whenever I was tempted to do something I shouldn't. I always thought about it showing up on my face and making my wrong doings transparent to everyone.

Next blog will be things my dad taught me : ) These will be funnier.