Sibling Assignment #143: We Really Aren't Her Little Daughters Anymore

Silver Valley Girl and Mom

Silver Valley Girl's next sibling assignment of January was to write something about Mom's birthday. I have shared photos both here and on Facebook. My brother wrote his post here reflecting on the ghost of Dad that was in the background at her celebration.
Taking the theme from another blog post by RP, I think sometimes Mom doesn't realize her daughters are all grown up. As we were putting together plans for her 80th birthday party she wasn't in charge.
She wasn't in the know. She is so used to taking charge or at least being in the know or together with us planning what is going on. We didn't keep everything a secret, but there were many details of the celebration we didn't share with her. It was a different role for her to play.She always wants to help, contribute, bring stuff, or find stuff. This time we took over the responsibilites for the party. She really wanted to help.
We kept having these conversations: "Do you need tablecloths?", " Do you need any tables?", " Is there going to be room for everyone to park?", " What are the girls(her granddaughters) doing?", " Who is coming?"," Do people know it is a dinner?" " Do you need vases?" We would kindly answer no, no, yes, singing, serving, lots of people, yes,no. Of course she knew our big brother and our husbands were the rocks that would help if anything went wrong.

I think she knows we are competent hostesses. I think she realizes we have both organized parties, weddings, holiday dinners, reunions, and households. She is lovingly still trying to guide us. She wanted to make sure we didn't fail. She didn't want everything to go wrong. She didn't want me to have a meltdown. She didn't want crying. She was being a caring mother.

 We succeeded the best we could. There was ice under the water on the street, there was a mishap with a garage door, we had people show up unannounced, and the yellow tulips drooped. We handled it with grace. We had a plan.
We proudly showed up in ironed clothes and clean faces, with combed hair, brushed teeth, food for all, a place for coats, a parking plan, silverware in the right places, lemon in the ice water, hand towels in the bathroom, and good manners.
I hope Mom realizes now she raised us well!