Mother dear!

The house is spic and span, the guest room has flowers and smells fresh, the snacks are in the cooler, I look pretty, the children all look neat, the car has gas. Reading my check list you would think I'm expecting an ambassador for a guest, instead of just my mother. Then again my mother is a very special person to me. I know she will not judge me if the dishes are not done, or the house is not vacuumed, or the children's noses are not clean, but for some unknown reason I want to impress my mother with my personal achievements, and of course at this stage of my life those achievements include my family and home.

Although I'm a grown woman now, I find myself at times feeling like a little girl trying to impress her parents. I don't feel there is anything wrong with it. I have a good relationship with my mother, better than I have ever had it before, and she treats me as her equal and I treat her with respect and love. We are good friends. When I find myself trying to draw my mother's attention to the good things I'm accomplishing, I smile at myself, understanding that it's okay to feel like a little girl sometimes. It's one way, I feel, I'm showing my mother that all of her hard work and efforts to raise me become the best I could be weren't in vain. It's a silent invitation to my mother to be proud of me.

I saw that kind of pride and love in my mother's eyes today at the airport when she saw me and my four beautiful children welcome her. For the next four months that she is going to spend with us, she will often see my house a mess, my dishes all over the counter, my children's clothes disheveled, and me laying down and reading for hours, but the memory that will stay with her will be that scene at the airport with me and my four treasures greeting her with love.

Welcome home, mother!

Do you ever feel you are trying to impress your parents? I strongly believe that this happens not because of lack of self confidence, but because of our desire to make our parents happy and proud of us, regardless of our age. I also find it more often in smaller families where the bonds between parents and children are stronger. Do you think I'm wrong? What kind of relationship do you have with your parents? How would you like it to be?