mommies

i wish those of you who don't know my mom knew her and those of you who do know her knew her better.

my mom's name is Theresa (Teri) Lenhoff and my friends have nicknamed her T. Lizzle and she doesn't mind. watching my mom gives me hope for the kind of person i will become. you know that whole idea that with age and ups and downs, life should become more serious. i guess i'm a little fearful that i'll become an uptight person who can't laugh at much because i believe that i'm supposed to assume a more "mature" role as someone who is 30, 40, or 50. my mom is 47 (sorry mommasita) and last night i told her that i peed my pants in a cornfield when i was twelve. she laughed for nearly ten minutes...then she would stop...and then five minutes later she would begin laughing again. she was really, REALLY amused by that fact and she kept PICTURING it (which i wasn't appreciating much...for the record it was very hot that day and i had been running, which i reminded her of about three times).

but it's not just that, my mom also finds great joy in participating in the little things, such as hiding behind things downstairs when she can hear me making my way down from my room, and then right as i'm rounding the corner into our main corridor, jumping out and giving a big scream in my face in the hope that she'll scare me lifeless. i'm not exaggerating at all. does it drive me crazy? HECK YES. but when she starts laughing really hard because she has scared me, it's kind of difficult to be angry.

two nights ago she was playing pop culture trivial pursuit with my sister and I and she got the music question: What female rap artist won a grammy for spelling out U.N.I.T.Y in her song? (Obviously Queen Latifah)

my mom sits there contemplating who it might be, determined to guess it, as she can tell by my and my sister's faces that we DO know it and she finally yells out: CHRISSY ELLIOTT.

atleast she tries, eh? this time, ash and i had a good laugh at her expense.

at times it may seem like i'm making fun of my mom, at times maybe i am--but in good nature--because really, i love her good humor and hope that i take joy from scaring my husband and children silly, that i am a good sport about games like pop culture trivial pursuit, and that i can laugh that hard at life in general. three cheers for T. Liz--my mommy who has taught me how to laugh at life--right in the face--right after i've scared it some.