Moms

[Keito-san]

My mom wrote me a note for Christmas:

My Mom

Dear Caitlin,

I doubt I tell you enough how very much I like you and love you (yes, at the same time). I like your movie reviews, your oft-expressed opinions on nearly every subject, your choice of friends and your willingness to lend a hand. I love your loyalty, your often twisted humor, your sense of self, your imagination and creativity as well as your perseverance against the odds. I am particularly proud of how you managed the challenges posed this year in your relationships. There aren't many people who would have responded with your true sense of love, forgiveness and resolve and then make a friend out of the remains. You are a very special woman and I am certain that in the year to come you will receive even more loving joy than in the past.

I am so glad you are home for the holidays. I know one of these years I will surrender you to another family for these special occasions, but I am delighted that you are here now. You are very precious to me, and though you may not be aware, I enjoy every minute you spend with me.

I love you, Mom

I didn't read it out loud because I knew mom would cry, and then I would cry. My mom is my best friend -- it needs to be said. I know I'm very lucky in that. She has always been one of the most hardworking and heroic figures of my life. I love her so, so much. I don't think I would've made it this far in my life without her.

Moms -- talk about relationships with your mom, people who played that role, or even just women you look up to in your life.  

[Action Movie Hero Girl]

that is absolutely lovely, oh my goodness.

DOWNER TIME: i don't have much of a relationship with my mom anymore. we've basically just drifted out of each other's lives.

but i do have these aunts i absolutely adore. they're both so strong and funny and accomplished and it's really cool to have something to aspire to. i love them a lot and i dunno where i'd be without them.  

[Felin Greenleaf]

I dislike my mother along with the rest of my family and only really talk to her or go see her because A) She's dying and B) She's actually trying to get a better life.

I doubt my relationship with her will be anything more than neutral, and is more likely to spiral back to me loathing her.  

[breedney]

i loathe my mother.
multiple times she's come to me crying and i still couldn't give a s**t.  

[Undecidability]

It's really sad when people don't have a good relationship with their mother.
I wouldn't say my mom is my best friend, but she's been there for a lot, even now that she has to take care of her own mother so often. During my first year of college, I guess she was really stressed out about money, so everything was kind of strained between us, but ever since last spring she's been so much more mellow and we've gotten along so much better. I'm really glad that I have someone I can talk to about stuff, even if I didn't always appreciate her when I was younger.  

[Liquid Sunshine_XO]

My mom is my best friend, too, along with my sisters and my actual best friend Katelyn. I've always had a great relationship with her. It's not eerily perfect or anything, we sometimes used to get on each others' nerves and things like that, but who doesn't, even in the best relationships? And sometimes people (who we know personally talking about us and just people in general talking about all mothers and daughters) say that the mom should be a mother and not a friend, or rather, not be more of a friend than a parent, but my mom is my friend and she's a great mom, too. So my dad and step-mom are a little more strict about things, and I know even though they're not super uptight about everything, I can usually count on my mom to be more cool with things than them. She's always been there for me and even if she's had money troubles and isn't as well-off as my dad and Dar, she has always tried her best to get me little things for my birthday or Christmas or graduating. But even more importantly, she has always been there for me emotionally. I've always been real close with her, I can talk to her about anything and know she won't judge me, even if she may not like what I have to say, and love me unconditionally. I'm getting teary eyed just writing this. crying heart

 

[Alexaandraa]

i cry every time i think about my mom not being around. like intense sobbing.  

[captain buttcheeks]

my mom and i used to be very close. now there's a lot of distance between us. a lot of the time i don't really like it when she's home... sometimes i think i'm being a stupid little teenage b***h, but over time i've realized i kind of just don't like her as a person... i dunno if i can ever go back to viewing her the way i used to when i was a kid. hm.  

[LeRaven]

we're okay.
we been bumping heads alot idk.

we've never been 'close' though.  

[Moosenstein]

Interesting.  

[skulI rabbit]

my mom and I can have long talks but for the most part we clash and do not get along. I was close with her as a kid and we'd nap together and watch movies and shop and stuff. But she started to just get sick of me and yell and argue with me at some point. And now, though at times I do enjoy her company, I repeatedly wish and plan to live either with anjel's family at some point in my near future or get an apartment.

She just takes everything for granted. Everything I do for her isn't good enough and she's never thankful and it really takes a toll on me when she complains about how I cleaned a ******** table. It's also irritating when she thinks I can drop everything for her and clean and vacuum and do dishes and s**t when I have things planned all day. If I don't do them I just get screamed at, even if I was busy or working or at school. So I don't know anymore.  

[unfathomable]

I ******** love my mom. She is a BOSS. I mean, we fight like crazy every other day, but it's just because we care about each other so much. She's the stay at home type. She gave up everything for me. A full-ride athletic scholarship to college when she found our she was pregnant and she has always devoted every ounce of her being to me and to family. She worked at a strip club to pay my dad's college. She's beautiful, clever, hilarious, tough as nails, and not afraid to show how she feels. My mom is the s**t, basically. I almost cried writing this out.  

[Arianah]

Oh my goodness. That is the sweetest thing ever. I need to do that for my kids. That is an excellent idea. I hope you hang onto that for ever.

I wish I had a good relationship with my mom. She basically did something devestating to me a few years ago and then when I retreated to lick my wounds called her family and lied to them to make herself look good which thereby ruined any relationship I had with her sisters. It's a long hard story, but I lost the last 4 years of memories with my aunt and it ripped me to shreds so I'm trying to rectify that with the rest of them so I don't have regrets when they pass on as well. My mom and I sort of patched things up, but I hold her on a very short leash. I have very clear boundaries that she is not to cross, or all hell will break out between us again. She's finally starting to understand not to push those limits if she wants a relationship.

But in spite of that, I've had very strong role models in my life as mother figures. One came into the operating room with me when my last baby was born. She's helped me with the birth of each of my children. My one professor was an awesome influence on me as well. She taught me about much more than chemistry and will always hold a special place in my heart. I generally gravitate to women who have overcome great hardships. I think I can learn a lot from them. And they always tend to keep their sense of compassion for the world. I may not have a mother really, but mother figures do abound in my life.

And really, I can't fault her too much. She was a teen mom and didn't know much about mothering. We sort of grew up together and perhaps she never learned to be a mom until I was much older.  

[Zukes]

While my mom used to annoy me, we're best friends now.

Ever since I moved out we've gotten closer.

My mom is the closest person to me in my life.  

[just call me Jetty]

I haven't seen my mom in four-and-a-half months and I miss her terribly. Both of my parents, actually. I've never been away for more than a month before and it's made me appreciate them so much more, although I've almost always been close to them, with the possible exception of middle school if the xanga I dug up a few months ago is any indication. xD I feel like the things that I don't have in common with my mom, I do have in common with my dad, and I adore them both.