A thoughtful Mother’s Day gift
Her mom was pregnant with No. 4. She told her dad that her back hurt from ironing his dress-uniform shirts, implying that, for a Mother’s Day gift, he could take them to the cleaner for a few months. Instead, he bought her a tall stool, so she could sit while ironing.
Modern day mother’s retort
“Keep making that face and it’s going to freeze that way,” was what my mother used to say to us as kids. I knew times had changed recently when she caught my sister scowling and warned, “Keep making that face and you’re going to need Botox.”
Mary Bouck
Mom’s first flight
The first time my mother flew, she was a nervous wreck. During takeoff, the roar from the engines proved reassuring — it meant they were working, she reasoned. But when the plane leveled off, so did the engines. Grabbing the armrests, she asked aloud, “Did we stop?”
Samantha Earls
Trying to impress mom
Although I am of Chinese descent, I never really learned to speak Chinese. One evening, I came home boasting about a wonderful meal I’d had in Chinatown. I couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant, but wrote down the Chinese character on the door to show my mother. “Do you know what it says?” Mom asked with a smile. “It says ‘Pull.’”
Barbara Mao
