Squeezing into Too-tight Peep-Toe Pumps... Or What I Learned From my Mother

BlogHer has a great tribute to moms Mother Knows Best. Here is my little tribute to both of my wonderful moms.
My own Mother...
Squeeze into those tiny peep-toe pumps even if you feel all blistered because of it... My mom has tiny feet. But she never had a problem wearing my Dad's triple E wing-tips or the neighborhood trophy-wife's peep-toe pumps. In fact she had a whole closet full of shoes she could walk-in.

I remember so many times coming home from school, especially in those difficult junior high years bawling. Sometimes crying because I was so mad, sometimes crying because I was so hurt. Usually I just ran up to my room and shut the door. It was then I would get the little tap on the door, or sometimes a note slipped under...mom was ready to help. When I let her in, I always wanted a "You poor thing, awwwwe..." What I got was so much better.

Instead my mom tried to find every angle she could from the other persons perspective. Even though sometimes it hurt, those shoes of my best friend who I felt had just betrayed me, or my orchestra teacher who I was certain blamed her divorce on me, were an awfully tight squeeze, often I felt pretty blistered. However, I have always been grateful as an adult, she taught me how to put them on, work through the pain, and see what it might be like to be in someone else's shoes.

My Mother-in-Law...
How to Be "The Prince" and Relish it... I always sit back in awe as I watch my mother-in-law play with my children. She sits for hours on the ground, in awkward positions and plays Barbies and Polly Pockets (she can even amazingly get those horrendously difficult PP clothes on). She never complains about being "the prince." In fact, somehow she finds a way for the prince to dance with all the princesses at the ball, and both my girls come away the better for it. Clutter, telephone calls, laundry...they all take a back seat because first and foremost she is a mom/grandma, and she loves it, and that is what I want too.

Thanks to both of my moms, I love them.