For My Mother

When I was very small, my mother made sure that I had a horse. It was plastic and it whinnied, and I loved it. She let me kiss it goodbye whenever we had to go somewhere. She knows that the first thing on every birthday list I've ever made has been "a pony".

My mother didn't get upset when my sister and I wanted to be dropped off half a block away from elementary school so that our friends didn't see us climb out of an orange Pinto. She just pulled over and let us out without telling us how ridiculous we were being.

When my sister and I got our ears pierced, my sister chose the silver studs and I picked the gold ones. Mom later mentioned to me that she, too, preferred gold jewelry. She didn't actually say that I was her favorite daughter, but I was pretty certain of her meaning. After all, we both liked the same metal, what else could it mean?

When I was thirteen I spent a month at my Grandma's house. When I came home my mother had wallpapered my bedroom, bought me an awesome bunk bed with a desk and book shelf and matching dresser, new bed linens, and a radio! (I still have the radio, going strong!)
 
She planned my baby showers, she cried when her grandchildren were born, and she has bailed me out of so many situations that I can safely say that, giving birth to me aside, she is the reason that I am where I am today. On this Mother's Day, Such Good Advice honors my mother by sharing with you some of her very own Good Advice, and a few things I've learned from her in my own words.

No one can make you do anything you don't want to do.
When you're upset, go ride your bike around the block a few times.
It's never too late to learn something new.
Don't try to tell a secret to someone who's in the shower.
Not everything on TV can be believed - especially Charmin commercials.
My father is not as funny as he thinks he is. (He's very punny though!)
If you throw something away that's been collecting dust for years, it's an easy bet that you'll need it the very next week.
If you must take a phone call while cooking dinner, bring the phone with you to the stove.
Let go, and let God.
There is nothing that a determined woman cannot accomplish.
It truly is better to tell the truth.
The best way to laugh is to laugh until you're crying, wheezing, and cramping - then take a deep breath and laugh some more!

Thank you, Mom, for being my one sure thing, the pillar of my life, my shelter in the storm. Thank you for telling me that you love me and admire me, and thank you for not taking me back out of this world when you undoubtedly would have liked to! When God gave me to you, He also gave you to me.

Happy Mother's Day,
Allison