I hate oatmeal...always have, always will.
But, growing up, we had oatmeal for breakfast most mornings. Usually, I would just sit and stare at the globby mass in the bowl. Eating it made me gag, gag, gag.
My three brothers must have had the same aversion to oatmeal, because one morning, mom, in desperation, said if we would just eat it - no complaints - she would be so happy that she would turn a cartwheel on our front lawn in celebration.
None of us could refuse a deal like that. I don't know how I did it, but I ate the oatmeal that sunny morning. Then, we all ran around the neighborhood to have our friends come and watch the big event. (I think if there had been local television in those days, we would have called the tv station. I mean, this was BIG!)
Now, 2 things mom hadn't figured into the equation were:
1. she hadn't turned a cartwheel in many, many years.
2. our front lawn sloped downhill, so it wasn't just a flat surface she would be flipping and landing on.
You guessed it...she landed - not only on the grass, but in the hospital, as well. Hurt her back, my dad said. She was there for awhile, which left me to take care of my three brothers.
She never volunteered to do anything like that again.
Friday was her birthday.
My mom - she was awesome:
Good, kind, thoughtful, patient, gentle, and a fantastic cook, except for oatmeal.
But, growing up, we had oatmeal for breakfast most mornings. Usually, I would just sit and stare at the globby mass in the bowl. Eating it made me gag, gag, gag.
My three brothers must have had the same aversion to oatmeal, because one morning, mom, in desperation, said if we would just eat it - no complaints - she would be so happy that she would turn a cartwheel on our front lawn in celebration.
None of us could refuse a deal like that. I don't know how I did it, but I ate the oatmeal that sunny morning. Then, we all ran around the neighborhood to have our friends come and watch the big event. (I think if there had been local television in those days, we would have called the tv station. I mean, this was BIG!)
Now, 2 things mom hadn't figured into the equation were:
1. she hadn't turned a cartwheel in many, many years.
2. our front lawn sloped downhill, so it wasn't just a flat surface she would be flipping and landing on.
You guessed it...she landed - not only on the grass, but in the hospital, as well. Hurt her back, my dad said. She was there for awhile, which left me to take care of my three brothers.
She never volunteered to do anything like that again.
Friday was her birthday.
My mom - she was awesome:
Good, kind, thoughtful, patient, gentle, and a fantastic cook, except for oatmeal.
3 comments:
What a terrific story to remember. You did indeed have a wonderful Mom, lucky you!
And, I love oatmeal, go figure.
I just love this legendary story. Not that she hurt her back, but it just is so wonderful to think about gma's kindness and her clever use of bribery rather than yelling and getting angry, like I would do.
I am so glad you wrote about gma. I have been thinking about her and miss her also. very much. What an incredible lady. And you are just like her.
Holy cow! I can totally see where you get your enthusiasm from. What a great lady!
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