I'd Like to Thank the Academy, Especially My Mom

I know I wrote on Monday that I wasn't going to talk about my tween and her tweendom.  

So this might seem contradictory.  Sorry about that.

I'm going to strive not to talk about the personal "stuff" a tween (and her beleagured mother) goes through.  

This?  Is too good to pass up.

I read in a book (can't remember which one), that if a mother ever doubts she's the #1 person in her tween/teen/early adult child's life, you need only watch Spring Break clips.  

What is practically every child yelling into the camera?

HI MOM!!!!!!!  

It's true, isn't it?  Almost every clip I see of older kids reveling in their freedoms, more than one always yells out a "hi mom!" 

And that happened this summer in our house too.

MY tween was cast in a Summer play with Columbus Children's Theatre and had to write her own bio for the program.  

We decided to write it at the pool one day.  She brainstormed from the list of what's important to include:

Name

Part

Age

Grade/school

Prior Experience

Thank yous

Interests and hobbies

When we arrived at the "thank you" part, I said, "do you want to say 'thanks to my friends and family?"

Her response?

"No, I want to say 'thanks to my family, especially my mom, for their support."

Uh, wow.

Knock me down with a feather.  

I said, probably in a pathetic display of neediness and I'm sure I had my super squeaky, shocked voice going on, "Really?  What makes you say it that way?"

And she said, "Well, you have been taking me back and forth to the practices all summer long.  I figure an extra thank you's needed for that."

(And yes, I counted.  By the end of her experience I'd shuttled her back and forth 92 times.)  

I may have cried.  At the pool.  

Kids - there's nothing in the world harder than raising them.  

But you get moments, these brilliant, shining moments of love that makes everything, EVERYTHING about it worthwhile.  

Happy weekend.  Hug your kids.  Even if they're old enough to bristle and pretend they don't want it.  They do.

Comments

[Kate F.]

How sweet! Love it!

[Jess]

That is so awesome!!! Love it! The spring break thing made me laugh so true the first thing that say is hi mom!

[Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes]

That is SO sweet of her!

[Amanda]

Okay now I am crying! How sweet a reward to see your daughter publicly acknowledge your dedication to her and to actually thank you. This gives me hope. It really does. There are a lot of days where some of what we do feels a little pointless but this proves that every little thing we do DOES have a point. Love it!

[Jester Queen]

Oh, I'm so glad you didn't keep that to yourself. It's too touching not to share. ANd I teared up five hundred miles away reading it, so I'm sure you cried when you saw it.

[Kathy at kissing the frog]

Oh, I love this! And it gives me hope for my future. My first and third graders didn't want me to walk them into school the first day. I was crushed. I'll start waiting for those random signs they still love me.

[Marie]

What a sweetheart. You are clearly doing a fabulous job of raising your kids. I would have cried, too.

Just this morning, my four year old looked up at me and said, "Mama, I really had fun at the American Mall (Mall of America). Thanks for taking me."

Pitter patter goes my heart.

[Mary @ A Teachable Mom]

So incredibly sweet! Got a little teary myself. I'm going to plant this idea in my daughter's head right now ;-)! And then I'll give her a hug!

[Jennifer]

Just when you think you've lost them they reel you back in. :)

[Trish]

Aw, I love this! It means so much when our tweens let us know they love us. They seem to quickly go from preschoolers who proclaim, "Mama, I love you very, very much!" Every half hour to surly tweens who barely acknowledge our existence. These genuine gestures of love mean so much.

[Jackie]

That is one sweet and incredibly thoughtful kid you have there! I think that is one of those moments to remember for sure... especially when she's being a pain!

[adrienne]

Haha! Of course she wants to thank you! You rock!

[Cathy]

How sweet - that's a great positive for all your efforts. Fun! Take care and have a good rest of your weekend!

[Theanecdotalbaby.blogspot.com]

Love this! You brought tears to my eyes... I know one day Lovebug won't be little and show her affection and love by coming running to hug my legs (oh how I'm going to miss that), but this makes me hopeful for those special moments of her appreciation later in life for the hard work a mom does. Congratulations, mom, and a job well done!

[Betsy/Zen Mama]

Wow! That's pretty incredible!!!! This happens to me every now and then, too. I know what you mean about the personal stuff. I try to write about my experiences with teen stuff but their experience if that makes sense. This was your experience from your point of view.

[ColdBlooded]

Warm Fuzzies!

[LDiggitty]

What a good kid!!!! You know you've done well if you've raised a kid with enough common courtesy to recognize someone who's doing her a favor! Er.... 92 favors!!!