Monday, April 30, 2007

Happy Mother’s Day to… Me?

I am not raising any children. There are many good reasons for this, the most important one being that I am not willing to change my life in the ways that one must in order to be a good parent. This is not to say that I don't like kids. I am a very proud "auntie" to several of my friends' younguns and someday, I hope I'll have nieces and/or nephews to spoil through my sister and/or brother-in-law. Plus, I work as a children's advocate, so I and find working on the welfare of kids in general to be fulfilling enough. I can go home and eat in front of the TV with no other obligations, or blog to my heart's content without needing to wait until the kids go to bed. It works out nicely.

In the end, I don't really need any real kids because I have me. What am I talking about? Well, I am turning into my mother, so that sort of makes me my own kid. Like most, if not all, daughters, I used to dread the thought of turning into my mom. After all, the woman moves as slow as molasses in January, is something of a hypochondriac, and is wracked by indecision. Also, she's always freezing her ass off. No thanks!

However, in recent years, it became clear to me that turning into my mom is pretty damn cool. Sure, I cringe when I notice myself slowing down (for example, it takes me 10 minutes to get out of the house after I announce that I am leaving because I have to fidget with my gloves and hat or whatever), am not crazy about the fact that I am convinced that every small ailment I have is obviously cancer, or that it takes me forever to make decisions and then I sit around second guessing myself. But I've always been close with my mom, and as I've gotten older, I realized how damn awesome she is.

The woman is strong in her own way. She battled breast cancer at the age of 33 with a newborn baby and four year old daughter. When the four year old daughter (me) because a mouthy, sullen, angry, and ungrateful teenager a decade later, she not only still loved me, but rooted for me, too. She worked at crappy jobs to pay for us to go to whatever college we could get into. Even better, my mom is hilarious. There's no one I enjoy talking to and joking around with more. We may engage in some champion level screaming, but I always look back at time we spent together fondly.

So Happy Mother's Day to my mom. I am glad that I am becoming you, even if it means I always need to bring a sweater with me in case I get cold.

Suzanne blogs at Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants. Unwilling to fully abandon her Chicago-area upbringing, Suzanne lives in Manhattan with her husband and a 15 lb. rabbit, but insists on calling soda "pop" and sneakers "gym shoes." She's working on a book about growing up.

*You can find more info about the Blog Exchange and how to participate, as well as the January participants and entries, by clicking here. WebKittyn is at Suzanne's place today!*

1. Very clever.
   I too say pop. And tennis shoes are my sneakers.

   amanda  on  05/01  at  07:16 AM

2. Happy Mother’s day to you as well, Suzanne!  It’s an honour having your here today, you class up the place.

   WK  on  05/01  at  12:40 PM

3. Huzzah for Suzanne!

   Huzzah for Suzanne’s mom!

   GF

   Gunfighter  on  05/01  at  12:42 PM

4. WK - You are hilarious!  I hope I am not classing the place up, as I rank pretty low on the classy scale. 

   Since we both are NYC dwellers, I propose getting together sometime.  I like meeting interesting people.

   Suzanne  on  05/01  at  12:55 PM

5. Nothing wrong with not having any children.  Funny how we all become are parents, isn’t it?

   Laura Lohr  on  05/01  at  06:22 PM

6. I agree with Laura that being sans children is just a part of life.

   I’m always horrified at people’s judgements about folks without kids.

   Allison  on  05/01  at  09:46 PM

7. Suzanne, your mom IS great!  You can bring a sweater over to my house anytime.  Did she see this post?

   Alex  on  05/01  at  10:45 PM

8. Your mom sounds wonderful.

   Jennifer  on  05/02  at  11:26 AM

9. I love this post, Suzanne.  Your mother reminds me of mine.  My mother is slow, too.  She’s always the last one eating at the table and I always feel obligated to sit with her until she’s done.  And every time she’s sick she thinks it’s cancer.

   I can’t help but smile, nod and laugh.

   Happy Mother’s Day to us all!

   dana  on  05/02  at  05:43 PM

10. ah, turning into our parents… scary, sometimes, but at least you know where you’re headed! 

    (and, of course, it’s pop!)

    Jenn  on  05/03  at  12:29 AM
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