Things My Mom Tried to Teach Me and Things She Should Have Told Me!

My mom is one awesome lady! I know she's my mom and I should think that, but I know it's true 'cause other people have told me that too. She tried soooo hard to prepare me for adult life. She made me help her in the kitchen, taught me how to clean house, and how to keep a clean house. Did I listen? Did her lessons stick? Well.... yes. However I am not good at implementing them! My house is NEVER as clean as hers, my cooking needs help, and I am not good at making my kids pick up after themselves. How in the world did my mother get 4 children to make their beds every morning? How did she get us to pick up our toys when we were done playing.. every time? I don't remember my mom ever yelling at us to get it done. My few memories of whoopins have nothing to do with not picking up after myself. What was her trick? I wish she had told me! My mom is a lead by example kind of lady. You can look at any situation she is dealing with and watch the magic happen. She has conquered uncooperative school systems, raising 4 children, and experienced natural disasters with such grace it is impossible not to see God working through her. That's not to say my mother never gets rattled. She is human, at least that's what she tells me. I'm still not sure. She can lift you up with words of encouragement, even when you have let her down. She can stay calm and shove a tooth back in her baby's head when it's knocked out by a church pew. (My littlest sister Adrianne accomplished that one.) She will go up against a school system when they are not meeting her children's educational needs. All the while never raising her voice or being disrespectful. I am not my mother. She has shown me MULTIPLE times how to handle situations like that. I can stay calm in a medical emergence, and I can lift people up when they need encouragement. I can listen like she does without judging. But.... you know that verse in the bible that talks about the tongue being a sword. Well.. I got that tongue. And man do I have a temper. I joke about my fuse being short, but it's really true. My fuse is REALLY short. I get mad quick, and lash out sometimes... in a not so pretty way. My mom should have told me how hard it really is to raise multiple children. She made it look so easy. Yes we fought, and lied, and didn't always treat our parents with the respect they deserved. But we also deeply love one another and tried to do our best... most of the time. How in the world was she able to meet each one of our unique needs and never freak out? How did she stay calm in the face of 3 very different girls and one boy trying to tear each other apart throughout the week? How did she get us all to clean our rooms and pick up after ourselves without threatening us with bodily harm? I wish she could have told me! I know she tried to teach me!