Thankful Thursday – May 7, 2009

Today’s Thankful Thursday theme is Mothers. With Mother’s Day approaching, I’m sure we are all thinking more about Mom and how we can honor her this weekend. So, let me tell you why I am thankful for my Mom.

1. She raised me in a Christian home. Not only a Christian home, but a religious home. We were in church two to three times a week, because all “good” Baptists go to church Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening. Not only did we go to church, but my brother and I also went to a Christian school for five years. I was incredibly fortunate to grow up with faith all around me.

2. My mother passed on to me all her Southern cooking knowledge. Growing up, we almost never ate out. My mom also cooked just about everything from scratch. I never had Mac and Cheese from a box or Potato Buds or other “convenience foods”. My mom cooked “real food”. And it was good!! She also made sure my brother and I knew how to cook before we left home. Nowadays, those scratch cooking skills are coming in quite handy. When I was working, there was money for a dinner out when we didn’t have time to cook. These days, we eat at home. And I’m glad we can eat at home and still eat well.

3. I’m thankful that my mom made sure I knew basic household skills before I left home. At the time, I might have told you that I resented being “slave labor”, but now, as a mom myself, I can see how important it is to make sure kids know how to do laundry and clean a bathroom. And, yeah, maybe it is a little slave labor-ish. But, it’s OK, Mom, I forgive ya!

4. Mom taught me chemistry. Well, not all of it, but stoichiometry and balancing chemical equations as well as dimensional analysis. My chemistry teacher wasn’t actually all that great at explaining stuff, but Mom explained the chemical equations in a way I could understand. I have to say, though, that learning dimensional analysis was one of the best things that happened to me – and it was all because of my mom. None of my teachers really explained well how to work with units, but my mom explained it and it made sense!

I’m thankful for my mom for a ton of reasons, but those are the four that my exhausted brain came up with tonight. What are you thankful for today? Check out Thankful Thursday for more great posts!