Happy Mother's Day

I hope all my fellow knitters are having a wonderful Mother's Day with their mamas, their children, or the mothers of their children (yes, there are a few male knitters out there as well; look below for a photo of my son learning to knit).


Here I am, very happily perusing my Mother's Day gift from Cody and Nikki, while we wait for our brunch to be served at the Downieville Diner, I got to go out to breakfast with two of our five children and my husband. My youngest son had brought up flowers the day before, but had to work today. My stepdaughter lives in Texas, where she is enjoying her very first Mother's Day as a mama herself, and my stepson also couldn't make it this year. 

I decided to share a bit of what I have learned from my children for this Mother's Day post. My oldest son has taught me courage, how to snowboard, and how to graciously go through trauma (see the post about his emergency surgery last month). He has also reminded me by his actions that every day we have the choice whether we are going to face life with joy or despair, whether we are going to be happy or grumpy, positive or negative. I choose joy!

My daughter has taught me so much about positive self-image. I have had a long and checkered history with food, including lots of uncontrollable cravings and ups and downs with weight. I always saw myself as heavier than I actually was, but have come to a much more positive place with that in the past five years. She has been my cheerleader when I struggled, my exercise partner, and my fashion consultant, urging me to buy new clothes when I shed twenty pounds back in 2000. She taught me how to straighten my hair, too, and wear makeup occasionally, just for the fun of it. Some of you who have to work hard to curl your hair are probably wondering why anyone would want to go to the trouble to straighten their hair. But, when you have long, thick, heavy hair like we do, straightening it adds enough air/volume to make it less clinging and it feels lighter.

My youngest son has taught me determination, and encouraged me through his questioning about how things work over the years to strengthen my business sense. I was always somewhat anti-capitalistic, but I came to realize that I needed to survive in the world where I had landed, rather than in some utopian world that didn't exist. Sort of a variation of "bloom where you are planted". He is also the one that values connections with people.

My stepson came into my single mom-based family when I married his dad eleven years ago. It was pretty rough in the beginning, joining two households with teenaged sons, but somehow we hung in there and made it. Glenn had raised Rex almost entirely by himself for twelve years before we were wed, and I am happy that Rex learned to accomodate to siblings. They are all pretty close now. Rex taught me that people are flexible, if they allow themselves to be, and flexibility makes relationships a whole lot easier.

My stepdaughter Amy has not seen her father since she was eight. She is now 27, happily married for five years and a new mama. We have been able to establish contact with each other through email and she sends new baby pictures every Monday. She has taught me that things change over time, and that things don't have to be lost forever if you take courage and go after them. I am very grateful to have her as a part of my life now.


Cody takes our picture. He was pretty pleased to go in to Meadowfarm Yarn Studios and ask for the particular knitting book I had on my wish list. The owner recalled that I had been in a few days before, browsing through the book stacks. 


Here's Cody, concentrating on his first scarf, crutches in the background. I taught each of my three children to knit when they were little ones, and he has picked up the mechanism pretty quickly while recuperating.