Thursday Thinking - What Animal Does Your Mother Most Resemble in the Morning?

Last night for our young women's meeting the Laurel’s (girls aged 16-18 years) had an appreciation dinner for their mothers. We ate Hawaiian Haystacks. (Earlier on the phone Ande, who just returned from Hawaii, said, “I told Joe that I think the only Hawaiian food I’m really fond of is Hawaiian Haystacks. Those don’t really count as Hawaiian, though, do they?” I laughed and said, “Nope. Cause we called them Chinese Sundaes.” She said, “That’s right because of the little Chinese french fries.”) The chicken gravy was really good. I’ll have to get the recipe from Shelly, our young women’s president; it was more than cream of chicken soup.

Shelly had a fun game for the girls and their moms based on The Newlywed Game.

A few of the girls’ questions to answer about their moms were:
What job did your mom have in high school or right after?
What does your mom fix for a last-minute supper when everyone is hungry?
What is your mom’s favorite kind of pizza?

A few of the moms’ questions were:
What’s your daughter’s favorite kind of ice cream?
What pet would your daughter want if she could get one?
What kind of movie would your daughter want to watch: romance, comedy, action?

Once or twice a mom remembered a daughter’s old favorite instead of a new favorite and I empathized. I think I know our kids, but for the life of me I can never remember which child loves ham and beans and which one loathes them, or which one likes cookie dough ice cream and which one likes cookies and cream. To their annoyance I still call them by each other’s names, most often calling Ray, "Grace" or Ande, "Cali."

While the girls and moms were playing the game, I remembered when Ande was eight or nine years old and she and I played it at a church activity. The only question I still remember was, “What animal does your mother most resemble when she wakes up in the morning?”

I thought Ande would say I was like a bird. After all I arose early, was cheerful, fairly chirped when I woke the kids, and cooked a breakfast that would have made Aunt Jemima proud (which is better than an early bird getting the worm).

There was no need to pretend to think about it. I quickly said, "Ande would say I'm like a bird," though I thought song-bird or meadowlark more apropos.

Ande shrunk a bit and said, “My mom is like a porcupine.”

I looked at her. “A porcupine? But Ande, I’m happy when I wake up.”

She said, “Mom, it’s not that . . . .” And then later, “It’s your hair. It always sticks up in the morning, just like a porcupine’s.”

(Truth be told my hair not only sticks up in the morning, it flies away in the afternoon, too.)

How about you? What animal would your child say you resemble in the morning?