
This is a repost from a 2009 Mother's Day blog...updated at the end to bring it relevant to 2013.....
Today is the mother of all days -- and I thought: how could I really honor my mom? I mean -- being a mom is said to be the toughest, most important job there is out there. Hence, why I decided not to have kids...but this isn't about me -- it is about my mom.
Susan Elizabeth Becker Barley -- Mother to Peter Mark and Jenny-wren Sunshine (though I was officially named at birth Jennifer Susan-- born on a cold February night after almost having me in a car -- but not quite -- in Detroit, MI over 42 years ago.)
There are only two of us Barley kids.
Dad wanted a third -- he even tried heavy, hard-hitting negotiations with my mom -- three kids and she could have someone come and clean the house once a week.
There are only two of us Barley kids.
Thinking back on it all -- maybe that is why my mom always had such a CLEAN house -- it was her weekly reminder that she probably made the right decision.
Since my mom has been my mom for 42 years -- I thought I would come up with 42 Things That I Know About My Mom.
1. My mom always had the cleanest house.
2. My mom was my Sunday School teacher, my Girl Scout Leader; my all time taxi to swimming, ballet, soccer, basketball, softball, art lessons, and Girl Scout camp.
3. My mom liked her kids to be involved.
4. My mom cooked us breakfast before school every morning.
5. My mom let us drink soda on Sunday night with dinner.
6. My mom knows how to make new friends and keep the old.
7. My mom is always getting organized.
8. My mom is passionate about equal rights for women.
9. My mom loves olives.
10. My mom will be excited when the event actually gets here.
11. My mom used to listen to Harry Ham and Nancy Drew on the car radio.
12. My mom loves to Boot Scoot Boogie.
13. My mom would be driven crazy by my brother and I fighting and she would send us to our room until our father got home -- only to find out that 10 minutes later, Pete and I had a Hot Wheels track connected between our rooms to play together until our father came home to wonder what the big deal was all about.
14. My mom and my brother always won the Leaf Raking Contest.
15. My mom started running at 40.
16. My mom use to be on a bowling team named The Happy Hookers and didn't really see the same humor in the team name selection that Pete and I did.
17. My mom has been on a zip sled pulled by the Susie.
18. My mom has Moonlight Rambled with Pete.
19. My mom loves to sing Girl Scout songs with her 42 year old daughter.
20. My mom cried when she got her first speeding ticket in our Chevy.
21. My mom lives by the Girl Scout law.
22. My mom can see 15 plays in a weekend and then wish she actually could just see one more.
23. My mom decorated my Barbie three story doll house -- with elevator -- made by my dad-- in the hippest of 70's fashion.
24. My mom and my dad are coming up on their 49th year of marriage -- and she still talks in the background when he is on the phone to me -- telling him important information that he has left out of the story.
25. My mom made hand-made invitations for my birthday parties.
26. My mom was secretly excited that when I admitted that my new Girl Scout leader (who let us watch Happy Days instead earning badges) in no-way held a candle-kiss to her.
27. My mom let her alter-ego come out in decorating the Florida condo.
28. My mom loved to host fish frys complete with whiskey sour slushes and pinatas.
29. My mom always laughed at the lobster joke -- even though it wasn't very funny.
30. My mom made me ask permission from my 3rd grade teacher to be able to miss school so we could go to Mexico.
31. My mom loves St. Louis.
32. My mom is a 4 mile a day walker -- when she gets out there.
33. My mom really hung in there during our teenage years.
34. My mom is the best quilter.
35. My mom loved being on the Chardonnay boat in Santa Cruz.
36. My mom still loves Silver Dollar City.
37. My mom is an amazing volunteer.
38. My mom looks like Annette Benning.
39. My mom loves the Cardinals.
40. My mom is always so interested to know if I have combed my hair.
41. My mom's best advice is to never leave the house without lipstick.
42. My mom is amazing.
Happy Mother's Day Mom!
I love you --
Jenny-wren
PS: Since this is an updated post -- and I am now 46 -- here are 4 additional things I know about my mom:
43. My mom acts surprised every year I sing the same Mother's Day song to her. And then she laughs and laughs.
44. My mom is the one who informed me that there are such things as Mother's Day songs.
45. My mom has a beautiful smile.
46. My mom leaves the world a better place than she found it.
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