When my mom was younger, she dreamt of having a house full of six wild and crazy boys. But what she got instead was this...
...three sweet rotten, well-behaved orinary, girls. Aren't we cute? and weird because we let our mother dress us up like grandmas for a photo shoot.
There is an infamous story that still gets told now and again around the Erenrich household that exemplifies how at times being a mother can be quite frustrating. It was dinner time at the Erenrich's, and my mom came home from a long day at work to slave away in the kitchen making her yummy spaghetti. (Abby, Rachel, and I were probably about the ages we are in the picture above.) My mom hands us each a plate so that she can fill it up for us, and asks us to carefully take it outside to the back porch, where we happily ate most of our meals in the summertime. Abby went first, and she was about to the back door that opens out onto the porch when she spilled her entire plate of spaghetti everywhere. Flustered, my mom decided to get Rachel and I outside before she dealt with the mess and could get Abby another helping of spaghetti. She filled Rachel's plate and sent her through the living room, out the front door and in through the gate to the back yard. Well, Rachel almost made it all that way, but at the gate she toppled her spaghetti all over the metal fence. My poor mom! I don't even remember if we ended up dividing up the remaining spaghetti among us, or if we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches...but I know it must have been impossible to work all day, then come home and cook dinner for a few clumsy kids.
(I realize this looks bad because I just told a story that makes me look like an angel because I didn't spill my spaghetti. But don't be fooled. I was the most misbehaved child of the three and just so happen to at times have the benefit of going last and watching and learning from my older sisters.)
Anyhow, my mom, who lost her own mother when she was just 13 years old, raised each of us like a pro...and I like to think we turned out okay...
So whether you are a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) working hard like June Cleaver who always looks beautiful in her pearls while she cleans who makes moms everywhere feel inadequate.
...or a mom who is balancing a full-time job, a house, and kids ...like her...
...or a mom who is dealing with a husband who is at times more work than the children...like this one...
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a couple other mamas that are special to me this year. The first one is my mother-in-law...
Without her there would never have been this little guy...
...who turned into this handsome man...
And the last two mamas are two of my best friends. Stephanie is a mother to Noah, who is almost 2, and she just gave birth to Gwen about a week ago...
And miss Danielle will be a first-time-mama to a little boy this fall...
