Grandmas have it best

Granddaughter Ruby invited me to attend her Mother's Day party and program at school. She presented me with the above notebook and flower pen. She also made me the tissue paper corsage for me to wear.

I love the sentiment on the notebook, "Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting." There was lots of frosting and we got to frost and decorate our own cupcakes, but the little program soon demonstrated the real meaning of that statement.

After singing us Mother's Day songs, each student told their mother one reason why they loved her. If their grandmother was present, they also told their grandmother one reason why they loved them.

The mothers heard:
I love my mother because she cleans the house.
I love my mother because she cooks good food.
I love my mother because she helps me clean my room.

The grandmothers heard:
I love my grandmother because she takes me shopping.
I love my grandmother because she does crafts with me.
I love my grandmother because she sews me new things almost every time we go for sleepovers.

Further proof that grandmas are all about lots of frosting!

I say that one of the best reasons for being a mother is that someday one will most likely also become a grandmother.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

A Poem for Mother's Day

Homemade Noodles
Sarah Rebecca made
homemade noodles
Because it was the only way . . .
Everything from scratch!

Rhoda Ann copied her mother
and cooked them
In savory chicken broth
And served them hot
On a plate in a bowl
Made of mashed potatoes.

Velva Ruth remembered how
they warmed her insides,
After school
On cold, snowy Idaho afternoons
And made them from scratch . . .
For us!

And I watched with
little girl eyes,
My nose even with the table top,
A snowy white dish towel covering
A drying mound of homemade noodles.

Laurel Ann (that's me), makes
homemade noodles
Cooked in chicken broth
Served over "real" mashed potatoes
For special occasions . . .
like birthdays,
Not because they're cheap and filling
(which they are),
But because they're labor intensive
and time consuming
and take most the day.
They fill my family with love!

* Written in 1994, this poem is the only thing I've ever written which was published. It was included in the Mesa Public School's writing awards book for that year. I was working as an instructional aide at the time, so qualified to enter something in the contest. I joined Janae (twice) and Eric who had also won awards from MPS and been published. I originally wrote the poem as part of a writing class at ASU. I wanted to honor the mothers who came before me. The picture of Dave and I is also from about 1994.