It's All Her Fault

I've decided my life is all my mom's fault. Is it still the thing, to blame everything on your parent's? It used to be. Used to be that you could go on Oprah and talk about all the bad things your parents did to you to make you the person you are today. I don't watch Oprah so I don't know if that is still the thing! I think people should be responsible for themselves and realize after a point that they make their own decisions and their life is what they make of it. But, for me, my life is still it is my mom's fault. That's my way of getting out of being responsible! Ha!

It is my mom's fault that I don't have anything to go on Oprah about. Too bad because I do love Chicago!

It is my mom's fault that I think I can do anything. I think I can remodel a house with no experience, take care of a family, and home school four children all at the same time. Mother always told us we could do or try anything we wanted to. My brothers and I all, to this day, will try to make things work and figure things out. My brother's seem to be a lot better at than I do, I don't see my mom having to fly across the country to rescue them when they bite off more than they can chew. She always seems to know when I have done it again (bitten off too much) and shows up without me asking. This picture is of her painting my old basement, I couldn't find any pictures of me actually doing any work!

It's my mom's fault that I love plaid and colorful things. It's her fault that I think I can sew. She made these lovely outfits above.

Not sure if she made these or not. Probably, I don't think you could get anything this lovely in a store.

It's my mom's fault that I love to read and love books. She may be regretting this after all the times has has had to pack all of our books! She loves to read and read to us and took us to the library. I had a library card long before I could read. In this picture I'm reading Go Dog Go! to Ryan. Love that book. Isn't he the cutest!? We won't comment on my loveliness!

It's my mom's fault that I love family. I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure my kids get the chance to know their extended families. Family is what we have at the end of the day. While friends are wonderful and needed, family can't get rid of you, even if they want to!

It's my mom's fault that I have three boys. Really it is. She always told me that I would have a bunch of boys that loved baseball. Really she did. This was in response to me griping, complaining and griping some more about all the ball games I had to go to. My brothers were always on a team of some sort and our vacations a lot of times revolved around some sort of sports event. That or a cemetery, but that is for another post.

I think it is also her fault that I have Callie. I think she always secretly wished on me the trouble that I gave her! No, Callie is not trouble, but she has a mind of her own already, and is going to keep on my toes for the rest of my life! Just like I am doing to my mom!

It's my mom's fault that my children's education is so important. She made sure that we did our homework, that we participated in all we could. It was never an option. We did our best in school and went to college. It was never a question, it was just what we were going to do. She took us on her own little field trips and opened up new worlds to us. She is huge history buff and loved sharing all of that with us. Luckily she loves sharing that with my kids. Again, my brothers got all of that gene. I think history is very important, but it is not my hobby. Both of my brothers are in education. I guess you could say I am in education, although what we do around here sometimes is not very educational! I think her attitudes at home, making everything a learning experience, helped me realize that homeschooling can work. That and the fact that she made me think I can do anything. (Still trying to decide if that is a good thing!)

It is my mom's fault that I married a Christian man. She married a Christian man, it's worked out well for her for 48 years. She talked a lot about the people we were going to marry. We knew that she wouldn't care what our spouse did, looked like, or anything. What mattered was that they were Christians.

It is my mom's fault that I have a mind of my own. I guess technically we all have a mind of our own, but we don't all use it. She has always been creative and adventurous. She has marched to the beat of her own drum. Not in a kooky way, but in a way that doesn't jump on bandwagons. She studies, and makes up her own mind about things. She uses the Bible as her ultimate guide, then does things the way she thinks they need to be. She thinks she can do anything, hence the reason my brother's and I think think we can do anything we want to do. I am glad that I don't have a problem being different. I am glad that I had the nerve to order the whimsical chairs instead of the boring brown and blue (a story for another day!). Of course I really didn't really have the nerve, I had to email her pictures and listen to her reasoning before I could order them, but I did the actual ordering! I am glad that I have a big family that I love and at least pretends like they love me!

The reason for all of this is that today is my mom's birthday. I'm glad that I can blame her for my life, because my life is not half bad. Here's hoping my kids will blame me for their live's someday. And here's hoping that she'll live until she is 80! (inside joke, obviously I hope she'll live much, much longer than that!) Happy Birthday Mother! Thanks for ruining my life :)! (Another inside joke, seriously.)