Just got back from visiting with family this past weekend. I was happy to see my oldest sister and her husband from Alabama.
However the crowing glory was visiting my mom. My mom, also known as "Have some more, you know I made it just for you!" Queen of Guilt.
Now before you say, "Oh come on now, no one put a gun to your head to make you overeat." Let me tell you about the Queen of Guilt.
My mom will be 80 in January. She has been a widow and lived alone for over 20 years. She is very active in her church and does lots of volunteer work. My mom is the hub of my extended family. She loves to email and talk on the phone so we allow her to the "mouth piece of the family" .
Everyone checks in with her on a daily basis. She is the fount of knowledge concerning all things sisters. It doesn't matter if I have just talk to both of my sisters in the last half hour, we all know to just sit down and listen to the recap from mom.
My mom grew up during the depression , so always having plenty of food on the table is vastly important to her. She is terrified that some one may actually leave her table hungry
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Being a gracious southern lady requires her to "kill the fatted calf" and make all your favorite foods. It is her way to show love and affection.
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Being a gracious southern lady requires her to "kill the fatted calf" and make all your favorite foods. It is her way to show love and affection. It can't be Sunday unless there is fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, green beans and at least 3 desserts.
To do less than your share at the dinner table makes her feel like she slipping in her hospitality skills and ( God forbid) getting too old to provide for the family that she has sacrificed for all her life.
Diets to mom, simply means you eat only one dessert.
My mom will also make little stabbing statements like: "You know it does my heart good, to see you all enjoying my food. Did you have a plenty? Do you think I should whip up some corn bread with that?"
The ritual "dance" continued this past weekend and she continues to reigns supreme. Betty Crocker, move over....Meet my Momma!
21 comments:
I am your first commenter of the DAY!! Wow!! I am so priviledged!! Yes, I see you had the same weekend that you figured you would have!! GUILT!! Well you survived and I can really understand your mother's point of view to a point!! She lived through a time that we will never understand. Thanks for stopping by and seeing me today!! So you needed training wheels!! You know we just did not have those. I think my brother did but I did not have them. It was ride or die doing it and so I rode!! Glad to have you back. Sandy
She'll be 80?!!!! Wow, I'm impressed. She looks so young for her age.
And yes, my folks also lived during the great depression, and the fear of not having food on their tables stuck with them throughout the years.
What a wonderful, beautiful sentiment today, that you shared.
Of all the blog entries I read, I so enjoy the blissful moments like these...cherished and etched in our memories of good times!!!
Thanks for the visit today. And I'm happy you invited me back to read this special tribute!!
Mine is up! I loved reading this
I love it!! She sounds like such a special lady. And I agree that she DOES NOT look like she is going to be 80!!!! WOW! I think these memories are so important...and being "food centered" tends to ingrain them in us, doesn't it???
Thanks for commenting on my table today.
Blessings.
Susan
Your mother looks amazing for 80! I would never have known.
My mother is a similar type of lady. As far as she is concerned her greatest talent is her cooking and if you do any less than share and enjoy the food she works so hard to prepare she feels disappointed and offended. It is a slippery slope when I go to visit.
Welcome back! Got a surprise for you...check out my Flickr.
ROFL! Your mama sounds like a little piece of Heaven! And her intentions are GOOD! And she does NOT look 80! And the weekend is OVER now ... and it's MONDAY again! Just step on the scale, suck it up, and do damage control! I'm glad you had a good weekend!
So it's Slim Fast 2 days before going to Mama's? She sounds delightful.
My mother was always watching her weight, dad's weight and our weight, but she was a fabulous cook and a great gardener.
My MM is up. http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/11/3162-monday-memories-did-i-ever-tell.html
Your mom seems pretty active for being almost 80! but so is my FIL who will be 80 next june, I guess old age isn't what it used to be! Moms don't want us to leave the table hungry, I know it! whenever I visit my mom I look too thin for her and she wants me to gain 5 pounds in two days, lol. Happy monday :)
sounds great, glad you ahve that time together- now you will need to walk a mile a day for a month to cancel out the extra calories, but walking is good!
My mom is 87 and still doing alright, living on her own, and we are so fortunate to have her!
Gosh, she's great. And that's how I would like to be if I ever reach my 80's! Great memory and hope she stays strong for a long time.
Thanks for stopping by.
My mom is 78 and exactly the same. Even if Nyssa comes home from college for one night, even if my brother has been on South Beach since Christmas and has said over and over, "I will not eat cookies", she will spend hours making gingerbread men and chocolate chip cookies and pumpkin pies and apple pies and macaroni and cheese for them. I get the occasional angel food cake. It will stop with me though.... I rarely and barely cook.
Oh, I so recognize this from other old ladies I've met - it's almost impossible to say no to them, - and they won't take a no either :-)
Since Debbie is no longer hosting Monday Memories - and no one volunteered to take over the work with the blogroll, I've decided to quit doing them too. It was too few that participated every week.
Her post about the ending
I'll pop by your blog anyway :-)
Sounds like you have limited options. Send the leftovers this way.
You made it through all that, huh? LOL She looks really good for 80! Come on over and check out my weekend...no one forced me to eat (though I did well on my own!)...LOL!
Thanks for stopping by ~ your MM really made me hungry! :) My grandmother was a lot like your mother...and my hubby's MeMaw is EXACTLY like that. It's impossible to say no to her!
Gotta love it, though. :)
Nice story! When I was little I used to love to drop in on the neighboors. Too bad I didn't live near your mom! YUM!!
You have the Queen of Guilt... I have the race of Guilt... I'm italian. We eat. We feed people. We love you - you eat. We miss you - you eat. You like my food - you eat more. You're full? Nah! You eat more... It's a celebration? Good - you eat!
I can remember my grandparents telling me I was too skinny and I needed to eat! UGH!
Go for an extra long walk this week!!
xo
LBC
Yep...that's a southern mom for you. Your mom looks great for her age. It is always difficult to not eat stuff you know your shouldn't eat when you know your mom went to a lot of trouble!!!
I feel your pain.
And you love her to pieces. I can tell. What a wonderful mom you have. What are a few extra pounds, when you still have your mom to gain them with. I don't have to tell you how much I wish, with all my heart, that my mom was still here to be my Queen of Guilt. I would love every minute of it! :) Your mom sounds like a great lady -- but of course, we already knew that because look at the great daughter she had!
I need to pull out that article I read... on of the tips for not gaining weight for the holidays was to leave a bite or two on your plate so that Mom doesn't see an empty plate and encourage you to eat more.
So have either extra with the first portion or get a second portion and not eat all of it so she won't encourage a third.
Of course my Mom would be all mad since I didn't clean my plate...but if you do the extra on the first portion, you could eat the last bite as you're carrying the plate to the sink.
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