Moms

This is my mom and my youngest, Gracie, working on a puzzle together when we were at a cabin for the holidays.

I know I am extremely lucky, for a lot of reasons. The fact that we live close enough for my kids to know how to get to Grandma's house and where she keeps the best chocolate and which box has the bat costume dress-up clothes and which flowers they are allowed to pick in the summer time says how fortunate we are. When Gracie first started attaching names to people, she called my mom "Grama Candy". She knew where to go for sweets she wasn't allowed to have often at home.

There are a lot of things I learned from my mom. There are a lot (more than I'd like to admit sometimes) of ways I'm very much like her. I am also fortunate enough to have known both my grandmas well enough to know what traits I got from them as well.

I know my mom says that there are many things she would've done differently as a mom if she knew then what she knows now. I know that, by her saying that, I think there is a lot of hope for me and my mothering skills. I know there are many times I call her or think about how she does things when I'm faced with a particular problem (especially if it's in the kitchen). I know that pictures like this are my favorite because I remember sitting like that with her when I was that size and I remember what her voice sounded like and what she smelled like, and I know I don't ever want to forget that. I know that I want to give my kids every opportunity to have moments like that with her--and with me. I'm glad that there are a lot (more than I'd like to admit sometimes) of ways I'm very much like her.

But I still gave her a magnet today with a picture of a woman looking at her backside in a mirror saying, "How did my mom's butt get back there?"