My Mom Used to Drive to the Sketchy Part of Town To Buy Milk (A Mother's Day Post)

I have a very distinct memory, for some weird reason or another, of my mother driving a van full of 7 of us kids to a dodgy side of town because she could get cheaper milk there. (Mom, it was the Cumberland Farm near the old Caldor, remember? On the edge of the city and you'd lock us in the car and tell us not to open the door. I so wish it was still legal to do this.)

This blows my mind. Not the 'getting cheaper milk' part. I totally understand that. I remember her saying, with a hint of worry in her voice, "Milk is really expensive- $1.59 a gallon! And you all go through a lot of it." Ever the fixer of problems- hello, young social worker Megan- I chimed in, "Well, one day when I'm grown I'm going to have a farm and a cow and you'll never have to buy milk again!"

We're still waiting on that one. I'm still going to try, Mom. Maybe we'll get chickens this year and be your personal egg provider.

But let's think about this scenario. First of all, let's try to comprehend the amount of work it must have been to haul seven, seven I tell you, young children out into a giant, hot van and haul them around town to do errands. This is the part that blows my mind. It is incomprehensible to me. I avoid loading up my mere 2 young children to do anything because the whole process of shoes on- whining- buckles- whining- 'no, we're not going to Dunkin Donuts'- whining... you get the idea. Going out is sometimes a nightmare, and although necessary and occasionally enjoyable, usually I come home with the feeling of 'maybe no more babies for ever again for a long time.'  Basically, my mom was a champion of children, a veritable super-woman.

Can we also talk about the idea of providing 6 gallons of milk a week for a bunch of kids? We were at least raised in a nice happy-go-lucky pocket of the 90's where no one yet fussed about the poison that apparently is Kool Aid, when gummy fish sticks and sticky mac 'n cheese were a norm for lunch, and hormone filled milk was a lovely shade of under $2. But still, her grocery bills must have been astronomical. I remember the day she lost her blue velro coupon wallet. She went back to the store to look for it, but I don't think she found it. My mom worked hard, stayed up late clipping coupons and making wise decisions so that we would have what we needed- and more. So many summer of my childhood or teenagehood include a memory of a sunny vacation to the beach or a cabin. This is because, in a large part, of the wise choices my parents made and because of the work my mom put in budgeting. That includes driving to the sketchy part of town to stock up on cheap milk.

I think when young people become adults, they begin to understand all that their parents sacrificed for them, at least if you have sacrificial parents like I did, and like my husband did. And when you become parents yourself, it comes full circle. Each year that these boys grow and eat more, I realize the hard work my mother put in. Every time I wake up in the night because G had a bad dream or P lost his binky, I think of how many times my mom did this. I come to realize more and more the immense sacrifices that she made and is still making to raise 8 children. The cliche phrase "I don't know how you did it" is entirely true. I know that she is humble and would give glory to God, because He is her strength. But she put in a lot of the grunt work and I am so very grateful. She and my mother-in-law are pretty fantastic examples of womanhood.

This weekend my brother Isaac graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of South Alabama and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force. I am really sad I missed the celebrations, but I'm so glad that my parents are there with him. And so, to honor them both, here is a photo of the two of them. Mom, your children really do 'rise up and bless you.'

We love you; Happy Mother's Day!

P.S. I also very much do love my children and am really grateful for them and any sarcastic and snarky remarks I have made about them are induced by sleep deprivation and not plausible. I love them both to the moon and back.

P.S.S. Milk is $3.99 a gallon now. And that's just the non-organic stuff, which if you buy and give to your offspring, you may as well just pee in their cereal. But we usually just buy it anyway.