Mother Dearest

My Mum turned the grand old age of 60 recently - quite an achievement. Possibly not, when compared to the stories you hear (with alarming regularity these days) of people surpassing 100 years of age and still base-jumping off Tower Bridge. Still, I am immensely proud of this feat my Mum has reached and I love her to bits. We're not one of those families who are constantly hugging, kissing and professing our love at the drop of a hat. That doesn't mean we don't love each other and wouldn't throw ourselves in front of a car if it meant another family member would be saved. We're just a little more, refined (for want of a better word) about it.

Without going too much into personal details (after all, this is my blog, not hers), my Mum had a fairly tough upbringing, one of 5 siblings in a fairly working class background (she was by far the favourite member of the family for one reason or another). She has worked exceptionally hard to become very successful in what she does, taking time off on three separate occasions to raise me and my two Brothers, while my Dad worked to earn as much as he could for us all. I think how difficult and stressful it has been in B's first year - now multiply that by three! Still, I may still have all this to 'look forward' to.

As teenagers do, most tend to rebel and cause problems and I was no different. My teenage years were tough on me (or so I thought - terribly self-centered, teenagers) and almost unbearable for my parents. I got caught shoplifting on two occasions and, certainly the second time, the look on my Mum and Brother's face when they came to pick me up from the Police Station is something I will never forget - I'm sure if you asked my Mum, she'll probably never forget it either. Late nights out without calling, breaking curfew times without any sort of notification (these were the days before mobile phones remember). It actually got to a point where to guarantee I got home, my Mum had to come and pick me up from school.

Of course hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I could turn back the clock and do it a lot differently, I would. Now, I am a lot older and a lot wiser, with a child of my own, I can't help but think about how I will fair as a parent to teenager(s). I certainly have a lot of life experience to take on before then as, quite frankly, at the moment, I think I will probably fail miserably. Fingers crossed that B is more like her Mother than her Father as a teenager.

Despite some fairly traumatic ups and downs, my Mum and Dad seem happy and contented as they move forward into their retirement years. They have three lovely Grandchildren (although W and I both hope the next one is a boy - it would be lovely to continue the family name beyond my generation) and despite them losing all their parents at a relatively early age, I really do hope they go on to live healthy and happy lives way beyond when they give up work.

For the last part of her Birthday celebration, we're all (B-less of course) heading off to the theatre on Sunday to see 'The Lion King.' I'm not hugely big on musicals, but then it's not for my benefit. I'm sure I will enjoy it thoroughly and who knows, you may even get to see a review on these pages in the coming weeks. As long as my fantastic Mum enjoys it, who gives a damn!