Thursday Thirteen #15

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13 QUOTES ABOUT MOTHERS/MOTHERHOOD

1. “A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”  ~Tenneva Jordan

I know this very well; I have other 5 siblings, 4 of them males so a piece of pie is never enough for them. I have witnessed my mother giving up her piece so many times.

2. “The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new.”  ~Rajneesh

If you have seen my mother before she got married and had children, you will never predict one day she’d deliver six babies and nurture them all.

3. “The phrase “working mother” is redundant.”  ~Jane Sellman

My mother never had a permanent full-time job that required her to be out of the house before we are off to school. In this generation’s term, she is not a working mother but aren’t these two words mean the same?

4. Sweater, n.:  garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly.  ~Ambrose Bierce

Mothers give their share of the pie when kids ask for it what more if it’s just a sweater.

5. “The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.”  ~Honoré de Balzac

I found her flaming mad at a serious life mistake my brother made 2 years ago. Nevertheless she accepted and helped him throughout, all in a span of day.

6. “When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts.  A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.”  ~Sophia Loren

After my mother got married and had children, it took her 16 long years to go back to her hometown again. No, her hometown is not located in another country; it is a 7 hour bus ride and 4 hours by ship. But every time the temptation to travel sets in, she would always ask, “will it not be bad for my children?”, “are the roads safe?”,  “will a three year old sustain long distance travel?” or “will they not be seasick?”. She had given up seeing her parents and brothers and sisters for 16 years because of us.

7. “She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn’t take them along.”  ~Margaret Culkin Banning

When I am away, I constantly check on my daughter, even if she is in the care of my own mother. I think about her all the time, from the time I leave home to the moment I ring the door bell.

My mother admitted that she would say a prayer for all her many children every single night, especially that we are all scattered in six different places now.

8. “If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?”  ~Milton Berle

Women multi-task, that’s for sure. Since I became a mother, I have mastered the talent to fold clothes in the dark, while breastfeeding – a skill I certainly inherited from my own mom.

9. “Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain they are their own.”  ~Aristotle

Don’t you just love that it was Aristotle who said this?

10. “Women are aristocrats, and it is always the mother who makes us feel that we belong to the better sort.”  ~John Lancaster Spalding

“Do I look beautiful, mom?” This is the only question in the world that I get a big “yes”, each time. (Don’t accuse my mother of lying…)

11. “Any mother could perform the jobs of several air traffic controllers with ease.”  ~Lisa Alther

I wonder if really there are female air traffic controllers?

12. “Mother – that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.”  ~T. DeWitt Talmage

My mother was always busy with other children when I was growing. I was not the type to tell her my hurts and worries but I know if we were given a chance, we could have bonded better.

I want to become the bank of hurts and worries for my child/children.

13. “It’s not easy being a mother.  If it were easy, fathers would do it.”  ~From the television show The Golden Girls

The Golden Girls rock! I don’t undermine my father’s share of parenting, though.

~o~o~o~o~o~

Today my mother turns 56. She is currently living with me, since the past 6 months and we are rediscovering so many things, agreeing on some, disagreeing on others. So much has changed since I last spent time with her. I was 19 when I left for Japan to study.

My mother is never the person who is showy in her affection to her children but I know deep in her heart she must love us all. I know without fail, because I too, am a mother.

Happy birthday, Ma. This list of quotations are all pointing to you.

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