Every Day is Mother’s Day (a.k.a. why my mom is better than your mom ;p)

(Hi Mami,

Ich liebe dich sehr, und ich schreibe dir jetzt einen Blog, damit der Rest der Welt weiß warum dass so ist.

<3 Deine Luli)

Why I love my Mami: The Basics 😀

Okay, so maybe it’s rude to say that my mom is better than yours, especially on Mother’s Day. The majority of mothers, I would say, are pretty darn epic, and I’m sure yours is one of them. Mine just happens to be the most amazing one there is.

A Young Mami <3 Lookit, how pretty! My sister has a similar haircut right now :p

I can talk to her about anything. It doesn’t matter if she had a rough day at work or if she only has 20 minutes. When I have one of my existential crises, she is always at hand with pretty much the only advice that could help in that exact moment.

She, along with my dad, gave me the gift of bilingualism. Okay, not everyone can have that because a lot of parents aren’t bilingual, but hear me out. They could have chosen not to do it. For whatever reason, plenty of parents don’t teach their kids the second language they speak. Mine researched it, worked on it, and perfected it. My English is dominant, sure, but if I decide to sit down on my aunt’s couch in Germany to read a 400-page book in one day next month, I can do it. The way I think about myself, the world, and life in general is impacted profoundly by the fact that I speak two languages. It also gave me the courage to learn a third.

Speaking of me doing crazy things: I never would have gone to school in NYC if she hadn’t

Mami with her other soul mate, our poodle, Bunny. Probably on the phone with Rita.

inspired me. When we went to the first Macaulay open house, I felt smaller and smaller and smaller with each thing that was said on the stage. WHERE had these people gone? HOW MANY majors did that one girl have? HOW did that guy do that project? I felt completely incapable. “I will never accomplish anything like that,” thought I. “Let’s just go back upstate. I’ll live with my parents and go to community college. This city will eat me up alive.” What did my mom see when she watched those impressive alumni count up their victories? My future. As we meandered about the city later on, she told me that this is where I belonged, that Macaulay was perfect for me, and that there was no way they wouldn’t take me. I was baffled. Obviously I was not good enough to get free tuition from anywhere, that was for sure. Maybe a discount, but this? No way. Well, guess what? I got over my crippling fear of life, now didn’t I. Look up at this blog’s url, then back at me. Look at the url, then back at me. Yeah. If my mom hadn’t talked me out of my neuroses and into Macaulay, I would not have had the most epic first year of college ever, I would not have grown so much as a person last year, and I would NEVER have had the courage  to ask to delay mandatory classes in order to come to Spain for 9 months. I’m basically skipping a year of school to take advantage of the scholarship I was offered to study in Logroño.

Us in NYC when she came to visit during my freshman year

Ute Dancer knows how to be my friend while still being my mother. If you don’t believe me, check my facebook. 😉 She never used the disgustingly condescending phrase, “Because I said so” because there is always a reason for what your parents say and do, and you deserve to know it, even if you’re being a petulant child. The first thing she did when she figured out she’d have to raise these two screaming bundles that were deposited by a stork on that glowing May day was read up on child psych. A lot of people could avoid screwing up their kids a little more if they just opened a good psych book. She always let us express our points of view, and she treated us like PEOPLE. One mistake that a lot of parents make is treating their children like “just children.” Well, whose kids were so well behaved that dinner party invitations were phrased thusly: “No kids allowed, except for yours”? Yeah, not bragging about myself, bragging about my parents. We were always invited. It’s not that we were that special, it’s that our parents knew how to keep us respectful (and if not respectful, at least under control. One of my favorite stories is the one where my sis and I were being obnoxious at a gathering and our mom told us to play “dangerous worms.” It sounded fun, so we did it, therefore creating no more noise and taking up very little space on the carpet.)

Although there are so so so so so many reasons why my mom is amazing, the most important one, and the last one I will write down here today (I have to save a couple for next time!) is her happiness. She shines glee like a dancing, singing 27-year-old playing a high school student on fox. People can’t learn to be happy from someone who doesn’t understand what happy is. My mom gets it. Instead of complaining about all the things she ‘d have to do that day, she always came up with the most random reasons to expect greatness when I got up to have breakfast with her on weekdays. If “Look how pretty the sun is this morning!” wasn’t an option, she’d go for “How nice that it’s raining! Now I don’t have to water the plants.” (keep in mind that she is outdoors for a large part of her workday) She’s always got a song stuck in her head, and she will hum it to put a spring in her step. No matter what, she is always thankful for everything she has. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her take anything for granted. She inspires me. I learned how to be happy from this woman. There are very few things that make her angry, and one of them is hunger. When people at work notice her pep and her inspirational commentary about the awesomeness of her coworkers die down, somebody hands her a sandwich, and there you go.

Isn't she gorgeous? Doesn't she just LOOK like she's awesome??

My mother is honest and kind. My mother is helpful and witty. My mother is self-confident and intelligent. My mother knows how to pick ’em (stay tuned for why my dad is great. That’s another blog for another day). My Mami is special and loving and understanding. My Mami makes existing more fun. My Mami listens and she is a great cook and she has a great work ethic. My Mami understands me better than I understand myself. My Mami is supportive and funny and all-around wonderful.

Here’s to moms in general (I’m sorry I’m propping mine up so much, you all deserve a round of applause and a breakfast in bed today for dealing with our shenanigans)

Most of all, here’s to my mom. Thanks for deciding to have children because my life is epically amazing. Danke daß du nie aufgegeben hast mir beizubringen daß ich etwas wert bin. Danke daß du uns immer sagst wie toll wir sind. Danke daß wir uns immer vertragen müssen bevor wir aus dem Haus oder ins Bett gehen, nur falls etwas passieren könnte. Danke daß du mir jeden Tag zeigst wie mann leben sollte. Du bist ein Exemplar daß mein Leben verändert hat. Ohne dich wäre ich nicht einmal zur hälfte die Person die ich heute bin. Ohne dich wäre ich einsam und unglücklich und eigentlich ohne selbstbewusstsein. Ohne dich ist mein Leben einfach nicht komplett. “Ich mag’s auch bei mir zu sein!” sagt da jetzt die Mami. “Ja, mit mir macht alles mehr Spaß”

Ich liebe dich sehr, und ich hoffe daß du diesen Blog magst. (Obwohl du, unterstützend und liebevoll, immer von meinem Blog schwärmst <3)

I LOVE MAH MOMMAHH!!

Happy Mother’s Day.

Happy Schnootie Day. I miss you THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS much, to the moon and back.

All Your Eldest Daughter’s Love,

Julia

PS– Here’s a shout-out to my Oma (yup. she’s quite wondeful, that one <3), to my dear Michele (who makes us grandkids feel super loved <3) and to my Grandma Bev (hope we meet someday <3)