Mothers filled with emotions

Aahh! It?s Mother?s Day. A time for all mothers to sit back, relax and look out and marvel at our creations. Yeah right!

It?s the time for us to think about the best way to plan for our own mothers, mother-in-laws or for someone who?s like a mother to us.

Several years ago, I lost my own mother, Alanard Miller Craven, but I have a wonderful mother-in-law, Frances P. Hobbs, who I admire greatly. She is the type of lady that worries about everyone else, not taking time for herself. When my mother passed away, she made it a point to tell me and my sisters that she would be our ?mother.? Of course, we occasionally remind her of that promise.

My oldest daughter is a mother, two times over now. She has given us a grandson, Carter, and a lovely granddaughter, Lauren. I never realized the love I felt for my own children could be doubled, but it happens when you see your ?baby? nurturing their own child.

We have just recently found out that our second daughter, Ashley, is starting her own family. I can?t wait for her to experience the warmth, joy, love, heartache, wonder and satisfaction of being a mother. I have told her that her life will never be the same again, but that?s just fine; life would be boring if we didn?t experience change. She is going to have to learn one rule: Sleep has always been overrated!

One of the best things to do for mom is to give her the day off. Let her take it easy and relax (if she can) while other family members do the work.

Many children like to fix Mother breakfast in bed on her special morning. I remember being woken up from a great sleep to be served cold (very crispy) pancakes drenched in syrup. Mmmm, what a way to start the day. My girls always found a flower of some kind to put on the tray, along with the Sunday newspaper. Of course, they always had to jump up on the bed and share the breakfast. Those are beautiful memories that I wouldn?t erase for anything.

We all know mothers are wise and always full of advice. I asked some friends and co-workers what is the best advice they received from their mothers? See if you can relate to any of these suggestions:

? Always wear clean underwear, you never know when you will be in an accident.

? Don?t make that face, it may freeze that way.

? What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?

? Close the door! Were you born in a barn?

? Always tell the truth, that way you won?t have to remember your lies.

? No matter what you do, I?ll always find out!

? If you can?t say something nice, don?t say anything at all.

? Go in the bathroom and find your manners!

? If you run away, just be sure you don?t get out of the yard!

? Pretty is as pretty does.

Being a good mother does not always come easy. Children do not come with owner?s manuals telling us how to raise them, so we have to be creative.

I love the response a second-grader gave when asked what her mother was made of. Her answer was, ?God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world, and one dab of mean.?

See, we just have to hold on to that one dab of mean.

Happy Mother?s Day to all.