Faith Prints

I think every mother tries to put on a little show here and there so that the other mom’s look at you as a great mom. I had my share of those. I started out trying to prove myself right out of the gate.

I had a highly critical mother-in-law whose passion was to come over to our house and turn up her nose at every single thing that I did. She would smile and carry on a wonderful conversation but the moment my sweet hubby left the room, dead silence would remain and then a snippy comment that would tear at my soul.

As a result, I always ‘put on the dog’ as we Texans are infamous for saying. Which simply means - putting on a show.

I tried so hard to be supermom anyway but it seemed that when the MIL was on her way over or more typically had surprised us yet again, I would go into overdrive.

One particular day I had been busy that morning and had been late cleaning on the kitchen. I had a small galley kitchen so the typical clean sweep meant that I simply got on my hands and knees and washed the floor down with a little mop and glo on my rag.

This day the MIL barged in as usual and plopped down at my table while I was cleaning. I hated that because I always felt scrutinized by the matriarch hawk of my sweet hubby’s family. I decided to ‘put on the dog’ and use my super duper cotton head extra absorbent thick headed mop! I pulled that sucker out and heard the intake of her breath!

She immediately came out of the chair and was IMPRESSED! MIL looked it over and then it happened! SHE GAVE ME THE NOD OF APPROVAL! I almost peed my pants!! THE NOD! I got the nod! I got the nod!! I was dancing and rejoicing inside!

I ran a bucket of water mixed with another of her trademark cleaners, “MR. CLEAN” and I made a show of mopping my floor. She even commented that she knew I used her cleaner because they were so “SPARKLY CLEAN”. I just could do no wrong now!

BUT… as things happen… calamity came in the form of a four year old. Amy was running through the house to go to the bathroom and as she made the corner and saw me mopping she skidded to an abrupt stop and gasped! She walked over and with the innocence and awe only a four year old can muster she said with eyes so wide, “MOMMMY! What is that thing! I have never seen one before! What are you doing to the floor?”

Ahem… er… well… sigh. I knew before I even looked over… the MIL was sitting with a disgusted look of disapproval. Shaking her head back and forth with that little nose in the air. Crap. I really blew this show. Oh well… my four year old was in awe. So I began to explain that this was a mop…. and immediately she came back with, “LIKE IN MY PICTURE BOOK MOMMY????” Could it get any worse?

ME: Yes Amy, like in your picture book. You know how the Mommy bear is mopping her floor? Well that is the same as this.
AMY: THAT IS COOL MOM! But Mommy when you clean our floor, you get in the corners and everything. You are a better mopper than that stick.
ME: (With heart swelling…) Oh honey, thank you so much. Mommy does hate this thing.
AMY: Mommy, don’t use it! The kids say they like our kitchen floor cause it’s always so clean they can slide in their socks the bestest!

With that, I looked over at the disapproving MIL to find she was no longer frowning but smiling. And I found I was no longer worried about what anyone thought but happy with the way that I did things. I took that mop out to the garage and hung it back on it’s little nail and from that day forward, I quit trying to impress MIL.

In fact, the ones I really cared about lived right in my house! And after all, I had a reputation to maintain! I was the best sock sliding kitchen floor cleaner in the neighborhood!

Oh… and eventually, I found out my bathtub was the slickest for sliding little butts down the back while playing in their bath… best kool-aid maker (used less sugar)… best watermelon seed getter-outer… the only mom that would carry a 2 foot alligator to our back dock to release… yes, I have alot of awards, and I am so proud to wear them all.

And my MIL-Mother-In-Love? Well… it so happens that I received the most wonderful gift from her just three years ago. We were sitting and having lunch one day and I was worried over a situation with one of my children, wondering aloud (as we sometimes all do) what I could have done different. She took my hand and looked me in the eye and said these most precious words, “Tania, never doubt your mothering skills. You were by far the best mother I have ever known. You have always astounded me with your dedication to your family and there is no one that has matched your ability to mother.”

And… she said this in front of her own daughter who was nodding in agreement. I now look back at those early years and I see things differently. She wasn’t critical of me because she thought I was in the wrong. She was critical of me because I was outshining her… and she was a wonderful mother in her own right. I just had taken one of the people that used to be pretty impressed with her… her son. Thank the Lord we all grow up don’t we!

Have a blessed Mother’s Day! I pray that each one of the young Mom’s will be thankful for all the little things… and know that you are someone’s hero too!

And one more thing… please listen to A Mother’s Prayer sung by Carnie Wilson on my playlist to the right. You will be happy you did!

Tags: Mother's Day