Mom-Speak
I’m not a Mom but I’m a huge fan of motherhood. Where would I be without it?
…I’m not a Mom but I’m a huge fan of motherhood. Where would I be without it?
…During the stressful time when my Dad moved into long-term care, and my Mom was scrambling to empty their house before moving, we looked for comic relief.
…Sometimes little snippets of conversation that seem innocuous at the time become important. Evidence: a sale on cheese.
…Today is my Mom’s birthday. We celebrated last weekend, knowing that this weekend was packed and we couldn’t get away. We delivered the hall tree Derek made for her condo, we had cake and sang, poorly, in our family’s traditional way. Derek sings with confidence, my brother murmurs and I tend to alter the words into something that makes sense only to me. It’s chaos in every key! …
I call her Mamasita, Matka, Ma, Mom and other variations on the same theme. And when I’m serious about something, I use her full name: Mother! It’s the equivalent of her using my full name when I was a kid. Strikes terror in her heart! (not really)Â …
My face feels like butter. On Friday morning, it felt more like 10 miles of gravel road. My heart feels like it swelled up to pumpkin size and then shrivelled back down to the face of an apple doll before settling at about half-full. My tummy – well, let’s not even go there. …
Unless you can hire people to do everything including point to where your stuff should go, something usually goes awry on moving day. You have to expect to encounter a bump or two in the road to your new home. …
My maternal grandfather, who died when my Mom was ten years old, relied on rations during the Second World War. We recently found a ration coupon booklet with many of the little tickets still intact. …
It’s my Mom’s birthday today! …
When you live in the country, you watch out for your neighbours. You get to know each other’s routines and you keep an eye out for anything strange. Growing up outside of Smithville, Ontario, we saw it all. Teenagers dropping cases of beer in the reeds near our front pond for safe keeping. A neighbour’s kid, ploughing his car through our flock of ducks as they attempted to cross the road. Trespassing hunters from the city, wandering through our fields and woods, guns loaded, looking for deer. …
For her birthday, my brother gave our Mom a flat-screen TV. Unfortunately, it didn’t work with her old TV stand and the size of stand she wanted wasn’t easily found unless you had an unlimited budget. Derek said, no worries Ma, we’ll make you one! …
If I had a dime for every time I rolled my eyes when my Mom talked about her beloved Purple Martins, I might be able to knock a few working years off this life and retire early. Â …
A few weeks ago, feeling burned out by long hours and other commitments, hubby suggested we book a long weekend away. We considered everything from New York City to Haliburton before settling on Niagara Falls. Who knew we’d need to get away even more by the time the weekend arrived? …
It was unexpected, as these incidents always are. Â London’s southwest Costco, jammed with Friday afternoon shoppers, suddenly ducking and covering from raining shards of glass as a vehicle backs through the front doors. Â How it missed the posts that hold the huge panes of glass, how it ended up going backwards into an area full of people, are still under investigation. Â …
Mom and I celebrated Mother’s Day on Saturday. The entire day was orchestrated by her second-born, my brother, who bought us tickets to The Lion King at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, and even pre-paid for our lunch at Hey Lucy, across King St. where our server kindly charged my dying iPhone battery. …
Mamasita.  Matka. Mamoo. Moo. Ma. Helen. Mrs. H. …
Much fun has been made of so-called Mom jeans. You know the type: they sit higher on the waist than is fashionable and offer a generous amount of room in the seat. They may or may not have an elastic waist. No one you or I know wears Mom jeans but they do exist on the bodies of some women.  They’re not cool. …