"First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"...Marriage - No one picks up after me

Sue Anderson lives in the North Maine Woods with her husband and two teenage sons. Sue enjoys cooking, sewing, writing, and recording the life activities of her clan.

No one picks up after me

I am a wife and mother. In that order. I like being both. I enjoy being in the co-pilot seat of this family. Of course it is a given that the husband is at the controls but when he is away I am in charge. I am the taskmaster. I am the drill sergeant. This writing is about everything we moms are. From homemaker to doctor to secretary to referee and so on. For one reason or another, at one time or another everyone and/or everything will gravitate back to Mom. Mom knows where it is. Mom knows what to do. Mom knows what to say. How many times have I heard, “Go tell Mom.” or “Go ask Mom.” or “Go see your mother?”

Mom knows where anything and everything is even though it doesn’t belong to her or she’s never seen it before. Sometimes it can be as extreme as this: “Mom hasn’t seen it - doesn’t know where it is - therefore it doesn’t exist.”

My family is a unique group. I am the only female which by normal standards would put me in a minority. But when dad’s at work that minority status instantly turns in to the majority simply by virtue of the fact that I am MOM. MOM upside down is WOW. I have heard my family say it many times for various reasons.

My husband is a wonderful father. When he is home he is total king of the hill. He and our two sons are an adventurous group. They are outdoorsy people and that is great by me. They are always going here or there trying new and different activities. When we are together as a family I will defer to him instantly. This is how it should be. When the boys ask a question I can’t answer, (Shh! Don’t read that too loudly. Remember Moms are supposed to know everything.) I will say, “Go ask your father.” Mind you this doesn’t happen too often because you know - only God knows everything. Then comes Mom. And when they do ask Dad, I stand close by so as to hear the answer then I can instantly say, “ See, I told you so.” Just one of my many mom tricks.

Over the years I have observed my family and their various habits much like researchers do in the wild. I sometimes consider myself an authority on the Anderson men in and around their habitat. I can pretty much tell what they are thinking, doing or about to say. It is only now that I feel compelled to write about their habits so as to entertain and amuse. The anecdotes I write are written in jest, for some of them are humorous. All are written with much love because they are my purpose for living.