My mom taught me so much! And there’s lots I continue to learn. Thinking back through this year, there’s 3 things I’m so glad she taught me!
1. Cooking – I cannot tell you how often I’m so glad I can cook! And I can do more than follow recipes, if I don’t have the right ingredients I improvise, I add spices as needed, and I’ll just wing it when I feel like it. Having confidence in the kitchen is such a blessing. I remember being at the counter helping bake, cook, and making a mess right along with my mom. Now, I let my kids do the same!
I’ll never forget the time I mixed up this beautiful tri-colored pound cake (in a bundt pan). I was in my early teens so fully capable of following a recipe. That cake was lots of work, and having three colors just made it more complicated. I successfully mixed it, baked it as instructed, and then set it on the rack to cool for 5 minutes. Next, continuing to follow the directions, I tipped it over and dumped it out onto the rack.
Only problem was, it wasn’t done. There were 3 colors of poundcake batter dripping down the counter and making a puddle on the floor. I cried, and I know my mom felt exactly as I did (even though she wasn’t crying). She had to clean up the mess. And then, we had a lesson on how to check a cake for doneness BEFORE tipping it over.
2. Sometimes Life is Hard – But you don’t give up. Life is constantly frustrating, irritating and just downright hard. But that’s all part of life, and definitely part of mothering.
Thankfully, that usually balances out with fun, love, and successes! You just don’t give up when things get hard, just keep going and things will come out ok in the end.
3. My Emotions are My Choice – I don’t mean I don’t have them. I can’t always choose when they’ll strike. But, I can be responsible for them. There are days I count to 10 before answering any questions. And there’s times I’m just tired, hungry, and crabby – and everyone knows it. That’s what coffee and chocolate are for!
Some days it’s really hard, but I can’t blame anyone for how I respond to things – like right now I would really like to tell the girls exactly what I think about them interrupting my writing for the 20th time instead of playing quietly in their room! Instead I calmly gave two choices. They can play quietly in their room until I come get them or they can take a nap like their Brother. We’ll see how long it lasts, but hopefully at least until I’m done writing!
With 2 girls I’ve started teaching emotional responsibility already. It’s ok to be mad – but we do not throw things or slam doors when we’re mad. It’s ok to be upset and it’s ok to cry – but we don’t yell at siblings or say unkind things because we’re upset. It’s not about not experiencing the emotion but it’s about remembering that no matter how I feel I still have a responsibility to be kind and considerate towards others.
These are wonderful lessons! I hope I’m doing a good job at teaching my babies the same. Your mom sounds like a good woman!
Wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day!
Thanks for sharing with Courtney and I at #TWSS!
XOXO
Sorry about the blank post above…I stuffed up. What I meant to say is these are great lessons 🙂 It’s funny how when you have kids and start trying to pass on similar lessons yourself you are much more thankful for your mum putting in the effort way back when!
No worries, I deleted the blank one 🙂 I am so much more appreciative of my mom now that I have kids!
My mom and dad both taught me how to cook and I am indebted to them! My husband appreciates it too 😉
I love #2, but they are all good. 🙂 Popping over from the blog love project. I like the name of your blog.
Thanks!
I love this so much! I am so thankful for my mother and the things she has taught me. I especially love your #3. It’s okay to have emotions and be upset, but you have to react in a mature way! Love that.
I’m glad my mum taught me to cook and that life is hard too! Sometimes I despair and get frustrated, but I know that this is just life and there are good bits and bad bits!
I used to hate cooking growing up, but I am so glad mom (forcibly) taught me that..
-DT | Here I Scribble
All great lessons to have learned! Don’t we all just love our momma’s?!
Yes we do 🙂
Those are great lessons. I can just picture the bunds cake scene from your description. I’m sure we have all had an experience like that! Fantastic post!
awwww this is so sweet! I hope I can be this good of a momma.
The cake lesson! Very important!!
I trying to teach cooking lessons to my husband haha
LOL – my husband can make craft mac & cheese but that’s about as far as we’ve gotten!
I’m so glad my mom taught me how to cook too! She also taught me how to experiment while cooking which helps so much! A great post, Haley @ http://haleysvintage.com
Such important lessons! My mom also taught me to embrace the tough parts of life instead of constantly trying to fight them. They’re just part of the process!
My mom experimented a lot with cooking and most times it came out great. I’m glad for that. I teach my daughter that emotions stuff, that it’s her choice – no one or nothing has control or to tell her how she should feel, her choice.