A Childhood Lesson from My Mother

[MineralMan]

My mother had a unique way of dealing with situations that were out of the ordinary. How she dealt with such situations taught us to react calmly to almost any unexpected situation and then to take an appropriate action. I grew up in a small California town in the 1950s

Completely unflappable, she'd turn anything that happened into a brief lesson, usually in tolerance and calmness. One of my favorite memories of my Mom was the time, when I was about six years old, that I brought this 12" long alligator lizard into the kitchen. A member of the skink family, they're around California and generally bite and hang on when handled. This one had a firm hold on my finger and wasn't about to let go. I displayed this situation to my mother, who was in the middle of cooking dinner. Her response?

"That's a very interesting lizard, Richard. When it lets go, turn it loose in the back yard and wash up for dinner."

Then, she turned back to her task.

Another time, when I was about 12, the woman who moved into the house across the street started appearing in her front window naked sometimes in the evening. Now, whether she did it as a matter of exhibitionism or unconsciously, she'd suddenly appear. In our house, we had a large picture window, which was always left uncovered. It was how things were. So, when this woman moved in and started appearing in the altogether. I and my siblings found it interesting and stared. My mother said, the first time it occurred, "I'm not sure what's so interesting about that. You've all seen yourselves naked in the mirror. You needn't stare at her, you know." So, we looked until it became boring and never paid any further attention to the situation. Eventually, some other neighbor spoke to the woman and she closed her curtains.

Nothing surprised her. Nothing rattled her. She simply found a simple, appropriate way to deal with anything that happened. That attitude was catching. I can still hear her calm reaction echo in my head when anything unusual occurs.

[tblue]

1. I love your mom!

A good lesson for all of us. Really. Thanks for sharing.

[MineralMan]

3. Yah, me too. She's 87 year old now, and I can't wait to see her

and my father at Thanksgiving. She's still just the same. A funny smile is about all you'll see when something unusual or alarming happens. Then, she does whatever makes the most sense to deal with the situation.

[gateley]

2. Impressive and cool! Recommend. nt