I was raised by a single mother and around several aunts, great aunts and female cousins. As a result, I know when to stop and ask for directions and when to admit that I am wrong. Two things that have saved me from many headaches and arguments over the years. I am very grateful for having learned this from the women in my life. I've learned a lot more than most guys would probably like to know about women. And yet, because I am a guy, I still know very little about how women function. But that's to be expected, I suppose. I can't seem to get away from being around the ladies all the time. Growing up I was around my mom, my sister and my cousin. I moved away to college and shared an apartment with my female best friend for three years, and we lived together post-college for awhile. Then I got custody of my teenager, also a female. And finally, the biggest little lady in my life came to stay. So I guess I'm not meant to get away from women. And I don't mind that, I'm comfortable being around them. I did always want daughters and not sons.
This is where this post gets cheesy. I've written sporadically about my mom before, but never a full post. I was surprised by that since she's such a big part of my life. I don't believe in keeping score (and neither does she), but I owe this chick a lot. She wasn't even supposed to have a son but took on the task at hand like it was no sweat and, though I rarely give myself compliments, I don't think she did a bad job at all. She was the mom every kid wishes they had. Every moment she wasn't at work was spent with her kids; going to the zoo or museum or parks, making crafts, baking. Even as a kid I knew that she'd do anything for any one of us. I didn't appreciate how rare that is until I grew up, of course. I wouldn't change a thing about my childhood, nor would I choose to have a different parent. It doesn't get any better than her. I owe my sense of humor to her, and I love that we have that in common. I wish I were as good as her at coming up with smartass one-liners. She's constantly reminding me not to be so hard on myself. She's very vocal when she thinks I'm making a mistake and even though her opinion may annoy me at the time, I always try and remember that she just wants what's best for me. And too few people have someone like that in their life. She truly is one of my best friends. If we weren't related, I would choose to be friends with her. I've never had a friend of my own who didn't become her friend. Ironically, she didn't care about being a "cool mom" when we were kids. She didn't care if she was our friend back then cuz she knew she had to be an authority figure and she didn't care if she pissed us off. And we're better for that. But, for some reason I'll never know (;p), our friends always love her. I love her too and I'm so incredibly blessed to be her "unexpected, completely unpredictable" son.
(Post title probably doesn't make sense to anyone, but it's a reference to a song my mom used to sing to me)
