Stop Scrolling and Call Your Mom

Professional two tier cake for a 5 yr old's party?
But of course!!

Today's post was schedule to be about studying abroad (or traveling in general) and ways to figure out when the best time to pack up your bags and go was. Instead I've spent my entire day in a funk because I woke up to a text message letting me know that my mom had been in the hospital for days. A text message. This is what's wrong with our generation.

The rest of my day has been me having to explain my situation to total strangers my professors, attempting to finish all my assignments in an effort to not have to do any work while with my mom, and stressing out over the fact that my she has a tube in her throat. After informing my professors that I wouldn't be in class regardless of whether it hurts my grade (does anyone really ask for permission in situations like this?) and trying to do as much homework as possible, I realized tomorrow is Wednesday and I'm supposed to publish something on Wednesday. Crap.

I didn't feel like writing about studying abroad or boys or the things that annoy me, all I could think about was my mom sitting in that dull hospital room, so I decided that's what I'll write about, my mom. I read other blogs on a daily hourly basis and everyone gets personal from time to time. Maybe all the years I've written for Her Campus and Life at UCR have trained me to make my writing not about me, one contract I signed literally said to not make it about my personal life. But screw it, I started this blog to write about my life and the things I deal with on a daily basis, usually awkward moments but sometimes some really bad days.

Since today is a day I spent thinking about and talking to my mom constantly, I'm going to outline all the reasons why my mom is literally the best. In no real order, because I don't have the time or energy to think about it that deeply. To make up for it though, I've included some very cringe worthy photos to enjoy. 

Don't judge us! It was the 90s okay?!

» I woke up one morning in May 2010 and told my mom I would need her credit card to charge two hundred dollars. The reason: I was going to college 400 miles away and hadn't bothered to tell her I had even applied. I don't think she'd ever been more blind sighted. She let me use the card anyways. 

» When I was little I use to sometimes randomly wake up out of my sleep and vomit. We never quite figured out the reason. Regardless, I remember sitting in my bed, blanket covered in my vomit, screaming "Maaaaa!" at the top of my lungs until she came to my room. Why couldn't I just get up and at least get out of the vomit covered sheets? Because my mom was coming to my rescue obviously.

» My mom bought me at least half a dozen bikes even though I was always too scared to learn how to ride them. I couldn't ride a bike until I was 10 but that didn't stop my mom from buying me a new bike to motivate me.

» Every ten weeks my mom drives 400 miles south and then another 400 miles back north to pick me up and drop me off from school. And she has never complained once. 

» I've never had to have a job. I don't know what it feels like to work and go to school. Anything financial aid doesn't cover my mom takes covers without a second thought, whether that be groceries or a new interview outfit.

My sister, my embarrassing self and my mom. Probably taken in the parking lot of Sea World.
Notice the dolphin claw?

» I went to Disneyland so often that it's lost all glamour now. We also frequented Sea World and Six Flags often enough for me to know my way around the park. 

» My mom was amazing enough to let me experience so many different kinds of pets growing up. My cat Morris, too many turtles to count, a bunny rabbit, exotic birds, baby chickens, fish and handful of others I cant even remember. 

» I went trick or treating every single year. Always had presents under the tree. Holidays were always celebrated to the extreme and we have the albums full of photos to prove it. 

» I had a back yard with perfectly green grass, flowers my mom and dad would plant each spring, and one of those blow up pools that was perfect for embarrassing me who couldn't swim until my early teens.

» On my mom's rare days off from work during a school week, she would surprise me with a Happy Meal instead of the boring everyday school lunch she would usually pack me. I was the envy of everyone.

» Oh, and she also packed my lunch every day for six years. Whoa. 

» Even though my mom has been patiently waiting to hear the words, "I'm moving back home, " ever since I left to college, she has supported me completely during the time I spent studying in England and my upcoming trip to Washington DC. 

I didn't own a pair of jeans until middle school.
Explains my hatred for all things pants.

» She wasn't like all those other moms, she was a cool mom. A mom who never pressured me to wear a bra, spared me the embarrassing sex talk and never asked about the boys she caught me on the phone with.

» She raised me with the mindset that I could be anything I wanted to be. All I had to do is work hard in school and put myself first always. I'm the strong, independent, outspoken woman I am today because of my mom.

For all these reason and about a billion more I'm skipping my classes this week and racing home to sit next to my mom until she gets better. We'll most likely be the same awkwardly distant family we always are, never talking about anything too serious or showing un-sarcastic affection. Some of my best memories are just sitting on the couch with my mom and watching those horrible court shows she seems to love, hearing her rant about some new disease Dr.Oz warned her about and trailing after her with the grocery cart.

You should close your laptop and call your mom . But before you do, comment what makes your mom extra special too...