When I call my mom, every other day, her first response to me is almost always “well hello stranger.” You’d think I never call her. If I called her every single day, she’d respond the same way. If I called her twice a day, it would be the same story.
So it goes without saying that when my grown daughters call me, I try very hard to simply say hello and not add a side dish of guilt to their plates. But I can’t help but elevate my voice with excitement when one of them is on the other end of the line. I can’t help but get excited when they come to visit. I wait all week for a sighting, clean house, cook their favorite meal, and clear my calendar, all for the two or three-hour visit with them. When they leave to return to their lives, I never feel like I’ve had enough of them. They bring their boyfriends and their laundry, and I welcome both with equal enthusiasm.
They know I love them, but they don’t quite understand my extreme enthusiasm when they tell me they want to come over for a visit even if it’s just to pick up the suitcase they want to borrow. I should write a soap opera and call it As The Tables Turn, because one day, they will have children of their own. I expect by then, there will be an episode in which they call one of their children to ask when they can get together and the response they hear will be “awe mom, I just sent my drone out to you last week, what more do you want?”
Let’s chat. Can your parents get enough of you? Can you get enough of your kids? Tell me all about it in the comments section below.
I think mothers and daughters push each other’s buttons. It’s the nature of the relationship. That being said, I hope I bring less guilt to my mother/daughter relationship than the guilt I have received!