Muffins with Mom – Labor Day and the lighter side of parenting

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It’s Labor Day, the holiday day established to honor and recognize contributions of the hard working people of the United States. Labor Day also celebrates the American Labor Movement. For many people, Labor Day is a day off from work.

Parenting is one job where you do not receive the day off for Labor Day. So, take a break from your parenting duties and check out a couple of stories.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

My mother spent a day with me just hanging out after my son’s football game. As we sat at the dining room table chatting, Mama remembered that she wanted to show me something. Her voice went up an octave as she said, “I got a sweatshirt for a bargain at Dollar General.”

Mama pulled the sweatshirt from her bag. It was a warm soothing pink color. “See, I can wear this when I work out.”

I tightened my lips together and said, “It looks like Pepto Bismal, the upset stomach medicine.”

Not wanting me to have the last laugh my mother said, “Maybe its Milk of Magnesia.”

“No Ma, that’s a different color antacid."

We both laughed as the sweatshirt was returned to its resting place in the Dollar General bag…until time for a visit to the gym. Watch out Powerhouse Gym, my Mama will be there soon styling in her beautiful Pepto Bismal pink. 

Red Light, Green Light

When I was a child we played a game we called, Red Light, Green Light. One person was “It” and stood with his back to the rest of the kids. When the “it” person said green light, everyone would tip-toe up to him and had to stop when he called Red Light. The object was to be the first one to touch the “it” person without getting caught moving.

While at a traffic light the other day, I had a different kind of Red Light Green Light experience. It was an indecisive moment. If you are familiar with the characteristics of some of the zodiac signs, you may know, indecisiveness is a characteristic of a Pisces. My birthday falls under the sign of Pisces (February 19 –March 19).

I don’t typically put much belief in the zodiac signs, but on this occasion, my actions held true to a Pisces characteristic. As I approached the traffic light, I realized that I was flashing green…and red at the same time. I eased my car up to the four way intersection with jumbled thoughts bouncing through my head – Do I stop, do I yield, who was here first? Grrr!

Red Light, Green Light. If I stopped and the person behind me didn’t realize I was stopping, I could be tagged “it” by her car.

I stopped, treated the intersection as a four ways stop and waited my turn to proceed, without incident. This Pisces had defeated the characteristic of indecisiveness and made a decision.

What stories have you experienced as a parent in your daily walk?