“On the day we got new carpet installed, my mother messaged me and said, ‘Big day for you!’
This is because moms care about the things no one else cares about.
Not about things like brushing your teeth and whether you’ve had your vegetables lately, although moms do generally care about those things.
I’m talking about the minutiae of daily life. The little details that make up the big picture. The things that, if you told most anyone else about, they’d think, ‘this is supposed to interest me how?’—but that your mom follows like it’s a page-turner, hanging on to every word.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with everyone else; it’s just that people in our lives are on a need-to-know basis, and moms are the ones who NEED TO KNOW.
For instance, if you’re getting new carpet, that’s all anyone else wants to know about; if they even want to know that much. Your mom wants to know what color, and if there are any flecks in it, and if you got new padding, and does it have a pattern, and how plush it is, and when she can come to see it. And the morning it’s supposed to be installed, you get an ‘it’s a big day for you!’ text from her.
(It must be acknowledged that we’re talking about the A-list moms among us…the kind we are only too aware not everyone has but wish they did, and the kind we wish we had if we don’t or didn’t…the kind we are trying to be, whether by example or intention.)
The mom interest factor isn’t nosiness, overstepping, or being too clingy; it’s just that, from the moment we enter our moms’ lives, it’s their job to pay attention to every detail. Every kick, every cry, every bodily function, every bite of food, every development, every milestone, every need.
This is a switch that’s hard to turn off. So when they no longer need to know everything, the best moms still want to know a lot.
What a gift this is. Those of us who are blessed to have moms like this who are still with us on earth already know one of the many things we’ll miss when they’re gone. It’s having someone we can share the fine print of life with—the back stories, follow-ups, and plot twists.
Given the chance, we vow to try and repay our moms for all their years of rapt attention the same way we plan to try to repay almost everything else they’ve done for us: by doing the same for their grandchildren.
So kids, down the road, when you get a great deal at T. J. Maxx, or finally pick between ‘vanilla mist’ white and ‘hand-churned cream’ white for that wall you’re painting or, you know, get new carpet, know this: we’d love to hear all about it.”
This article was submitted to Love What Matters by Elizabeth Spencer. You can follow her on Facebook. Join the Love What Matters family and subscribe to our newsletter.
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