Although she wasn't perfect and I have hopefully learned from her mistakes, my Mother was an incredible Mother. Our house was always perfectly clean, she made a healthy from scratch family dinner every night, she volunteered at our schools, checked our homework, led our groups, hosted play dates, threw great parties and basically made Mothering look easy. If she would have had a son, she would have been a tough act to follow. Now as a Mother myself, I am confronted with making Motherhood my own while living in my Mothers footsteps. Although I am not nearly the perfectionist or as strict, I do hope to make Mothering look as easy to my own kids as she did to me and my sister.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Not my Mothers mouth!

In my 29 years as my Mothers daughter I cannot recall one occassion when I heard my Mother use a curse word. The worst word I have heard out of her mouth has been 'sucks' and that was only in reference to Arizona State University, which she defended as acceptable because of her University of Arizona Alumni status. Growing up my use of curse words, including sucks, was deeply frowned upon and I still get looks of dismay when I curse in her presences today. In fact, I try my hardest not to curse around her anymore out of respect and to avoid any comments. Yet somehow after being raised to be a lady, I turned out with a sailors mouth. Perhaps it started as a way for me to rebel but now it has just become a part of me. I have gotten better with the birth of my son and now use only what I consider to be moderate curse words: shit, damn, hell. I know I shouldn't even use these words especially when my son is around but it is so hard to quit. Much harder, I have found, than quiting smoking. I do think I am getting better but I know I have a long road ahead of me. How in the world am I going to raise a lady when I can't be one myself?
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1 comment:

  1. TheXileJanuary 18, 2011 at 5:48 PM

    Oh my gosh, girl! I totally feel you on this one...only difference is I am a mechanic's daughter and therefore, predisposed to having a sailor's mouth. :-P
    And I agree, quitting smoking is MUCH easier than quitting swearing. I find that it's much easier to get my point across with curse words. They just express so much emotion!
    As for raising a lady, I think it's just important to know the whole time & place thing. I never cursed in front of my parents until I moved out of the house...but since your mom never does, I can totally see not using profane language around her. :-)

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