The Best Days of My Life

The best days of my life have been the years when my children were little. Most likely, every mother thinks the same thing. Although each day was long, hard, and tedious, those days were the most fulfilling for me. I smile, even now, just reminiscing. But to be completely honest, I, like most mothers, couldn't "see" the beauty in those moments until they were gone. In fact, I remember telling someone back then that my favorite color was "school bus yellow."

My oldest son was born in 1973 and I remember him entering the bus to go off to kindergarten on that first day of school. I had made him cinnamon rolls and milk for breakfast and given him extra hugs and kisses and encouragement as his tiny legs navigated the steps on the bus. He was fearless and I was a wreck. He looked out the window from his seat and waved at me. Now, all I could do was to trust he would be in good hands. I had three other small ones to care for back inside my house. And the days went by until they would also get on the bus. Two sons first and then two daughters.

There wasn't much money to go around back then, either. My family made sure to help with Christmas and birthdays. I was grateful for that. When we could afford an extra activity sports program, we did. But it wasn't constant. They got new clothes each year from the Sears catalog (this was before name- brands, like Nike, became a social expectation and burden.) I even made Easter dresses of lace for my girls one year. They were beautiful in them. They looked like princesses. One in lavender and one in baby blue. I also made shirts for my sons. They particularly liked the yellow stretchy knit ones I made. They grew out of them too quickly, though.

The year that Strawberry Shortcake cartoons became popular, every little girl wanted a Strawberry Shortcake & her Friends doll. They were expensive. They were too expensive. So, for Christmas, I bought the generic version for my girls. It broke my heart. They never said anything, but I know they were disappointed, too. And the same happened with the Care Bears. I did make birthday cakes for them with the motifs and clothes that matched the doll's outfits.

The boys loved to watch the Dukes of Hazzard and their stepfather, who was a carpenter and was mechanically inclined, actually made them a go-cart and painted it like the "General Lee," the car that Bo Duke & Luke Duke drove recklessly in their good-old boy antics.

We always had good food to eat, though. There was plenty of deer meat (venison,) in the freezer. We also had a great big garden with corn, tomatoes, strawberries, beans, peas, squash, watermelons, and okra. And I knew how to make corn bread and biscuits. I would also make blackberry cobbler from berries we picked alongside the country road where we lived. And when I went to the grocery store each week, I took turns taking just one child to spend individual time with them. They would get a treat of some sort and hopefully, felt "special."

Summers were long and we never could afford a vacation. And at one point, our television had "died." But we did go to the library for them to have books to read. There was always the Summer Reading Club. I remember checking out a book about Abraham Lincoln and other "poor boys" who had become famous. (They had been complaining about being "poor.") I read some of the stories to them. I also read the story of Johnny Appleseed to them and the everlasting impact that his life and simple acts of love had on the world.

The one "vacation" you could say that my children had was their Missouri adventure. Out of work in a time of our country's low economy impact, we were forced to move out of state. There were distant relatives in a small mid-western town outside of Springfield. We only stayed there six months, but what an adventure they had! We had a mini-farm with laying hens, 2 calves, and a pony for them to ride. They saw the breath-taking colors of what fall is supposed to look like and they saw the designs in each snowdrop that fell from the heavens. They collected black walnuts and they rode horses with friends. I'm so grateful for those moments and for that time in their lives.

Every parent wishes they had done more, given more, been more. But, in reality, they most likely did the best they could do with what they had. I hope my children know they were all I could have asked for or wanted or dreamed of. They made me the happiest woman on earth!