My mom’s first year as a mother

“I don’t know why you kids fight. You’re so lucky! I never had a brother or sister. If *I* had had a sibling, we would have gotten along.”

Trudy and Roger Green

My sister Marcia sent me via Facebook a whole slew of photos at the end of March. I’d seen most of them at one point, but it had been years. They’re great to see.

This is a picture of my mom, with her eldest child, who is yours truly. It appears that she is filled with unbridled joy, which is lovely, of course. The thing is that I didn’t think of her in that way. I considered her a bit of a worrier.

Partly, I think this was a function of her working outside the home at a time when that was not the norm. Perhaps it was the thought of leaving her son, and, eventually, her two daughters with her somewhat crazy mother.

It was also, though, that she, as an only child, did not understand the fact that siblings have disagreements. Many times, she dragged out this particular speech: “I don’t know why you kids fight. You’re so lucky! I never had a brother or sister. If I had had a sibling, we would have gotten along.” I think she actually believed this. Of course, because she WAS an only, she had ZERO credibility with this logic. (My father was an only as well, but I never heard him say this.)

Still, I thought she was a pretty good mom, though I’m not convinced SHE thought so. She probably fretted, like many parents do (including me) about whether she had any idea about what she was doing.
***
Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms, including my wife and my mother-in-law.

 

Author: Roger

I'm a librarian. I hear music, even when it's not being played. I used to work at a comic book store, and it still informs my life. I won once on JEOPARDY! - ditto.

4 thoughts on “My mom’s first year as a mother”

  1. Beautiful! Yes, if loving us unconditionally qualified her as being a good Mom, then she was the best…I miss her.

    Love to all Moms out there…one of the most beautiful, challenging and rewarding “jobs” in the universe.

  2. Just saw you in Washington Park at the Tulip Festival. Then I came home and looked at that picture of you as a wee little lad and said to myself, Yup, that looks like Roger.

  3. Great pic. My wife is an only child as our son. She has remarked only once, “Oh I wish he had a brother or sister.” I had one of each and I just snicker.

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