Simon Says "Let's Hodgepodge Again"

1. Share something you appreciate (or something you appreciated as you were growing up) about your mother.

Oh, so many things I appreciate about my mother.  She gave up her ambition to become a nurse in order to be a stay-at-home mom , which made her always available to me and she gave her best energies to raising her children.  She taught me to read and write. She encouraged academics and music. She led (and still leads) Bible studies. She cares for the needy. She has a great sense of humor. She's a good listener. She taught me to enjoy cooking and how to set a pretty table. On and on I could go.

2.  A quote most commonly ascribed to Plato reads "Necessity is the mother of invention." When did this last play out in your own experience?

Somehow I lost the mop pad that came with the Shark steam mop, so I rigged a different pad using a rubber band on each end.  Problem solved (but not the mystery of where that darn bona fide Shark pad went).

3. Share one of the earliest memories you have from childhood.

I remember when my foster brother ran through our glass front door and bloodied himself from head to toe.   It was all because he wanted to get on the bike that they had to share.  His brother had gotten off the bike to come in for a minute. I remember the sound of all that shattering glass (in the days before tempered glass). The thousands of shards on the floor and what seemed like a hundred on his arms and legs.  My mom gingerly picking the glass from his skin. Him shrieking and crying in agony.

4. When did you last 'hit the mother lode'? What was it?

I hit the mother lode of warm fuzzy feelings when I saw this post and picture by my daughter on Facebook:

My mom has seriously been my shoulder to cry on, ear to talk off, and biggest encourager in my life lately... Not sure I could be going through life as well right now without her love and support. Love you, Mom'  

5. What is/was your favorite dish mom made? Do you make that dish for your family/friends now that you're all grown up?

 Breakfast--Jiffy biscuits. She would use an upsidedown glass to cut circles in the dough.
Lunch: grilled cheese (white bread, Velveeta, low heat, lots of patience)  and Campbell's tomato soup.
It was the 70's, people. Wonder Bread all the way, baby! And sodium? We didn't read labels back then.
Dinner: beef stroganoff.   I have not made Jiffy biscuits nor the stroganoff for a very long time.

 But I do make a grilled cheese about once a month (whole wheat, real cheese, medium heat, very little patience).  It takes Velveeta and patience to do it Mama's ay.   I fix Campbell's tomato soup with it when I get a hankering (maybe 3 times a year).

6. Mother May I? was at one time a popular children's game. It required no equipment or parts to play. What was your favorite childhood game where you could just turn up and play-no gear needed?

I still play "Mother, May I? " with the lunch bunch kids every week when I go to my daughter's classroom.  And I play Simon Says with the little girl I tutor (but I do it to stretch my stiff joints).

My favorite no-gear game?  I loved hide-and-go seek. I was a really, really good hider.   I also liked the game called 7-Up when we had indoor recess.



7. Which TV mom (past or present) is your favorite, and why?

Olivia Walton.  She had the size family I dreamed of having until I actually started planning for a real family!  She was thoughtful, compassionate, wise, hard-working. She could get feisty and hold her own.  She was a woman of deep faith. Michael Learned was her real name. Unlike so many other TV moms, she commanded respect and was not just one-dimensional, not a whiner, not a ditz.  Thinking about her now, she bore a striking resemblance to my husband's mother. 

Michael Learned:

My late mother-in-law



 
8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

A bit of bragging here on my son. He told me that he'd be playing in the handbell choir performance at school last Friday night. But he did not tell me that he was playing three of them. He's a natural when it comes to music, and the director gave only him that many to play. He did a wonderful job. They gave him a special round of applause, which I'm sure went to his head!