Raise your hand if you ever penned a letter to your local paper telling them how wonderful your mom is and exactly why she should be crowned “Mother of the Year!”  You’re probably expecting me to attach a copy of the one I submitted all those years ago, but alas, we couldn’t seem to locate it.

Doesn’t matter, really, as I’m quite sure that what I comitted to paper as a child would probably have read something like this…

 

 

Dear Newspaper Person:

I think my mom should be Mother of the Year because she wakes us in the morning saying “Up and Adam!” and then makes good smells come out of the kitchen, which makes me grin even when I’m fighting my brothers for the bathroom.

My mom has the prettiest smile in the whole wide world and a laugh like some sort of bird – probably a lark or a dove, but not a crow.  She makes everyone feel warm.  Her name is Patty.

My mom has lots of rules but when my dad is gone on work she makes our special spaghetti sauce and we play games in the backyard or go swimming at the lake.  Sometimes she lets me stay up late.  We have saltines with tuna salad.  She talks with me and thinks I’m funny and smart.

My mom should be Mother of the Year because she always smells good and looks really nice when dad takes her out to dinner.  They come home laughing and then sleep in late and we get to watch cartoons instead of doing chores.

My mom is really strong and can lift really heavy stuff.  She is smart, too and knows all about how to mend broken things because she was a nurse and that means she can rip off a band-aid with almost no tears.

She makes cookies and cake for after school and helps with homework. She doesn’t take sides when all of us kids argue, she laughs a lot, reads a really good story and tucks me in.  Even when we sometimes hate it, my mom makes us all be together and then things are better.  My friends think she’s neat.

There are lots of moms out there and I’m sure they are good ones, too, but it takes an extraordinary person to be the mother that mine has chosen to be:  always with a smile, some food, some understanding; laughter, love and deep sense of family. I think my mom should be Mother of The Year because she is all that……and she hugs the best.

Thanks, Mom – Uh Vuh, 2