At The Bottom Of The Laundry Basket
My Mama Jenneice is a good mom.
An Idaho farm girl to the core, she grew up milking cows and hoeing beets. When she makes chocolate chip cookies or her infamous potato salad, she does not require a recipe. She just "whips it up."
She never shirked from a chance to jump on the trampoline with us when we were kids, especially when a sprinkler was on underneath it. We grew up engaging in many summertime water fights with my mom. (Last July, I watched her have one with my twenty-five year old brother!)
Recently, my good mom spent the day at my house, babysitting my children. This act of service was done on my behalf, so that I could attend the Story@Home conference. She knew it was important to me and she wanted to help me out.
After a lovely day of informative classes, laughter and storytelling, and being with neat friends, I walked through my front door...and was met with a clean house! It smelled like lemons and sparkled like diamonds. My mother had become my fairy godmother and had gone to work, performing her magic all over my house.
The dishes had been done, the kitchen had been cleaned, the bathrooms had been scrubbed, and all the laundry had been folded. I was amazed! (And truly grateful.) I thanked my mom, hugged and kissed her goodbye (because you should always hug and kiss your mother), and sent her on her way in her horse-drawn, pumpkin carriage.
My heart felt full and my burdens felt lifted as I wandered from room to room, admiring my mom's labor of love. I went into Carmen's room. His toys had been picked up and put away. His laundry basket was empty. I went into Lilly's room. It was tidy. Her laundry basket was empty. I went into my room and noticed that all my bedding had been washed. I glanced at my ugly, plastic laundry basket resting in the corner.
I gasped and felt my cheeks slowly, slowly start to flush! My nervous giggle broke the silence of my reverie as I stared and stared at the basket.
The ONLY, SINGLE, SOLITARY item remaining in my laundry basket was my SILKY, BLACK, "UNMENTIONABLE!" My intimate apparel! My Victoria's Secret nightie! She had sorted, washed, and folded ALL my laundry, but had left "a little something" at the bottom of the basket. A little something her maternal eyes did not need to see! AAHH! How embarrassing! How mortifying! How distressing! After all, SHE'S MY MOM!!!!!
And I'm glad she is.
She's a good one.
An Idaho farm girl to the core, she grew up milking cows and hoeing beets. When she makes chocolate chip cookies or her infamous potato salad, she does not require a recipe. She just "whips it up."
She never shirked from a chance to jump on the trampoline with us when we were kids, especially when a sprinkler was on underneath it. We grew up engaging in many summertime water fights with my mom. (Last July, I watched her have one with my twenty-five year old brother!)
Recently, my good mom spent the day at my house, babysitting my children. This act of service was done on my behalf, so that I could attend the Story@Home conference. She knew it was important to me and she wanted to help me out.
After a lovely day of informative classes, laughter and storytelling, and being with neat friends, I walked through my front door...and was met with a clean house! It smelled like lemons and sparkled like diamonds. My mother had become my fairy godmother and had gone to work, performing her magic all over my house.
The dishes had been done, the kitchen had been cleaned, the bathrooms had been scrubbed, and all the laundry had been folded. I was amazed! (And truly grateful.) I thanked my mom, hugged and kissed her goodbye (because you should always hug and kiss your mother), and sent her on her way in her horse-drawn, pumpkin carriage.
My heart felt full and my burdens felt lifted as I wandered from room to room, admiring my mom's labor of love. I went into Carmen's room. His toys had been picked up and put away. His laundry basket was empty. I went into Lilly's room. It was tidy. Her laundry basket was empty. I went into my room and noticed that all my bedding had been washed. I glanced at my ugly, plastic laundry basket resting in the corner.
I gasped and felt my cheeks slowly, slowly start to flush! My nervous giggle broke the silence of my reverie as I stared and stared at the basket.
The ONLY, SINGLE, SOLITARY item remaining in my laundry basket was my SILKY, BLACK, "UNMENTIONABLE!" My intimate apparel! My Victoria's Secret nightie! She had sorted, washed, and folded ALL my laundry, but had left "a little something" at the bottom of the basket. A little something her maternal eyes did not need to see! AAHH! How embarrassing! How mortifying! How distressing! After all, SHE'S MY MOM!!!!!
And I'm glad she is.
She's a good one.
I want to be a Mom like that to my children. :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYour mom is pretty darn fabulous! Whenever I see her around town, she always says hello! That'as a family of good women you've got there, missy!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHA this is soooo funny!! What a darling mom you have there. I am lucky enough to have a mom very much like yours! This post just made me smile :)
ReplyDeleteI love it... and you!
ReplyDeleteHaha!! That is amazing. What a sweet mom you have! So good to meet you last weekend. Hope to connect more in the future.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sweet. They would jump at any chance for their grandchildren. :)
ReplyDeletei love that your mom left "it" in the basket for you! LOL! i love the way you tell a story! i'm so glad you were able to go to the conference! this post made me miss you (as always). tell your mama, dad and brothers and sister i said hello! ohmygoodness, and i lol at lilly's quip of the day. who is this henry who likes pizza!? :)
ReplyDeletegive her a hug for me! i love you!!
beautiful photo at the top! and i've always loved that one of the three...gorgeous!!
xoxox
maria
p.s. - we weren driving through lancaster over the weekend and talking about you. steve was driving and my mom and karen were in the back. i told them the story of lilly and her "pencils from pennsylvania" :) they loved it and appreciated it so much as they hear so many cute and funny things from the kids they've taught. everyone was asking about you and my mom and karen were both saying how neat and fun you were. I MISS YOU!!!!
ReplyDelete