For Robin of Where I Come From

Robin of Where I Come From, bless yore heart. I am delighted to receive the Happy 101 Award from you. You have helped put me into a totally silly and cheerful mood tonight, so I dedicate the following post to you. Because #1 on your list of things that make you happy was “Being a Mom,” the theme of this post will be the Top 10 Things That Make Me Happy About Being a Mom.

(Folks, if you have not checked out Where I Come From, do it now. Robin has a very forthright and engaging writing style that will delight you.)

(I also see that Where I Come From is also an elite … ahem … Texas-linked blog, and will add it to the “Texas Team” forthwith.)

Top 10 Things That Make Me Happy About Being a Mom


1. Still being able to shock my daughters.

2. Still seeing the looks of wonder and excitement as they check out their stockings on Christmas morning.

3. Learning to sympathize with and understand my own mother by experiencing first-hand how difficult it is to be a mother.

4. Having a daughter to speak Russian to and geek out about linguistics with (older daughter).

5. Having a daughter who even loves the “pest birds” (grackles and blackbirds) who visit our backyard and says, “They’re God’s creatures, too” (younger daughter).

6. Having daughters who love all the same science fiction stuff that my husband and I love, who love some of the same music we do, and who like to watch Top Gear and Junkyard Wars with us. (However, Daughter #2: Stealing Mom’s Dr. Who scarf is not cool.)

7. No longer having to continually get up in the middle of the night because we had babies who Just. Wouldn’t. Sleep.

8. Having to be careful about drinking liquids around my daughters because they can quickly crack me up with an off-the-cuff remark to the point that … well, you know, the tea comes out my nose. (Daughter #1, please do not say: “Thanks for the visual, Mom.”)

9. Having someone to inherit my genealogy research.

10. Having daughters who have been known to say: “Mom, you need to put that broom down and come with us. We all need to get manicures and pedicures, pronto.”