Mothers and Daughters

I have many, many blessings in my life. One that I am constantly reminded of is my relationship with my mother.

I work with so many young women who complain and complain about their mothers. Their mothers tell them they're too fat, or they don't keep their houses clean enough, or they married an idiot. My mother is so solidly on my team that I can't even relate.

This morning, during our standing Saturday morning phone call, mom and I put the finishing touches on a weekend mother/daughter trip we're taking this fall. We haven't had a "just us" trip in ages. We used to go to Charleston for a weekend every year. Then we started mixing it up a little, but we always went somewhere together.

We mixed it up a lot and went to NYC in 2004. That was a great trip. I remember going to this restaurant where mom had this big disagreement with the waiter over what she had actually ordered. It had something to do with semolina, only she kept saying salmonella, which didn't help matters. To top that off, we were crammed into this tiny space right next to another couple who were obviously on an early date. He was older, she was younger. He was telling her in great detail about his open-heart surgery. I wanted to lean over and say "Dude! What are you doing?!" We laughed about that meal the whole trip.

Some parents don't make the switch from young child to adult child. My mom made it seamlessly. In fact, she models the way I want to be with my kids when they grow up. I hope my kids look forward to spending time with me as much as I look forward to spending time with her.