What was the routine every day, did she dress everyone in order? How did she pack all those lunches? Did she know ahead of time each day what her meals would be, and have everything in? She didn't even have a driver's license, so I know there was no running to the store for ingredients or this/that to accompany a meal. I keep wondering about it. Why didn't I pay more attention? I could have been learning and banked up some strategies and tips for now. Too bad I had to be almost 40 before I started to wonder about this stuff. Did she really have everything ready at the same time, hot, and on the table, for 13 people at once, meal after meal, day after day, year after year, or is my memory just rose-colored? Didn't anybody made a documentary of her? Why wasn't National Geographic there filming her as some kind of institutional miracle? Were my older sisters like scullery maids behind her helping? There must be a catch!
What I really want to know is, did she have to plan it all out every day or did she just attack tasks in random order. When did she start the laundry? How many loads did she try to do every day. How did she wash all those diapers? When did she wash the sheets on the beds? Once a week? Once every 2 weeks? What if someone starting throwing up? How did she feed twins, and feed everybody else?
Did she know every second what was coming up next on her list of Things To Do? And how did she squeeze in those 4 pies every week? WHAT? 4 pies? She really did make pies every week.
I want to know, I want to know honestly; I'm craving a Reality Show of my Mom.
She sure as hell wasn't watching Desperate Housewives, though I wonder if she never felt like one. No cleaning lady. No nights out at the theater. No sisters coming to stay for a week after she had a baby. And she certainly wasn't affording herself the leisure of typing a stupid blog every day.
Like a CEO of a large entreprise, she must have had a plan. Didn't she? I keep trying to figure out a way to make everything run more smoothly, to not find myself with nothing in the fridge on Thursday nights, to not have piles of laundry. I only have 2 kids! What the hell is the matter with me? My husband even cooks the meals half the time. I was known to be clever at one point in my life. Get organized, Julie! Think ahead. Plan it out! Why can't I get this show on the road for pete's sake!
I would KILL to turn back the clock 40 years and shadow her for several days, watch, and learn from the master.
Here's to the mother of all mothers, on Mother's Day.
