My mom

Now it's my mom's turn. I have often reflected on what a blessing my mom has been in my life. Out of all my siblings, I probably look the most like her. Isn't that lucky? And she and I have a lot of similar interests: reading, music, child development, even dance!
Our lives have followed similar paths as well:

1. Graduated from high school as valedictorian
2. Went to BYU
3. Met the man of our dreams, both of whom share the same birthday and are 3 years older than us, respectively.
4. Married the man of our dreams (she was 19, I was 20)
5. Became pregnant within the first year of marriage and graduated with a baby in our arms.
6. Became a stay-at-home mom.

I like being like my mom. Except she's ever so much more kind and unselfish than I am.

My mom would never do or say anything to purposefully make someone feel bad. She's someone that everyone loves to be around because she makes them feel good about themselves. She listens. Sometimes at great lengths to people when she'd probably rather not, but she still does it with a smile on her face because she loves them. She possesses charity.

I have no recollection of her ever raising her voice to me when I was a child (though I get the picture that I may have merited a bit of stern punishment as a toddler. But I don't remember that Mom, so you're safe!). She would express disappointment in something I'd done, and presto! Instant tears and remorse. All of my siblings have had that same experience.

My mom is smart. Brilliant, actually. My dad loves to tell stories of how she would find errors in textbooks, or how she was once the only student in her college class to realize that the professor had given them the wrong test. Everyone else thought they hadn't studied enough. She knew better. A lot of people have asked her if she regrets being a stay-at-home mom and not being able to fully utilize her brains. Her response is always that she's used every bit of knowledge and brain power she has in raising her six children.

You can tell that my mom LOVES being a mom. I don't always find it so easy--I often wish Livia would entertain herself for a while so I could get some things done. My mom would often put off doing things around the house because she just couldn't bear to not play with her child. She was always down on the ground with us playing games, building Lego towers, or dressing up Barbie dolls. She would chase us around the yard playing tag or hide and go seek. I never once felt like my mom didn't want to spend time with me. That she wouldn't have dropped everything to do so. That's a good feeling.

My mom's major failing? She can't bear to throw anything away! I find myself being a bit like that too, but luckily Chase is quite the opposite, so I've gotten rid of a lot of stuff. My dad likes to pretend he's not a saver, but he's a pack-rat too, so it's a bit of a hopeless case! Ü

Only as an adult have I come to realize that my mom doesn't really like to cook. I think it stems from having so many picky eaters for children. But I never knew she disliked it, because we still had a home-cooked meal every night. She's just like that. She's not one to complain.

My mom is musically talented. She played the clarinet and piano, and was quite good at both. She taught piano for years, including lessons for each of her children. It didn't really work so well for me...I needed a meaner teacher who inspired fear (my violin teacher was like that. I didn't dare not practice, and left more than one lesson in tears). She's had the same old upright, out of tune piano for probably 20 years. Someday we'll get her a new one.

My mom is modest, unfailingly honest, upright, always willing to volunteer in church and in her community, and puts other's needs above her own. My grandmother likes to say that she's "practically perfect in every way." Amen to that!