For my mum....

Although Mother's Day was yesterday, I wanted to pay tribute to my darling mum.  My mum was both mum and dad to me and my brother for a good part of our lives.  I know now, that being a single parent is a tough job and I'm pretty sure I gave her a rough trot at times {never!} and Mum always handled everything with love and patience.  I know she had to sacrifice a lot to raise us but she was always cheerful and went without so that we could have.  She was always patient with me when I was little....I think these days I'd be labeled as hyperactive or ADD, lol.  Mum sewed all of our clothes for years, knitted our beanies and hat and crocheted my dolls beautiful outfits.  She can whip up a delicious meal out of next to nothing and tries to keep her whole family healthy {vitamins, water and cider vinegar hahaha}  She grows lots of vegetables, herbs and has planted lots of fruits trees and uses these to make yummy jams, relishes and in her meals. She works tirelessly at her callings at church. She is a brilliant farmer who has saved the life of at least 4 animals in the past year!  It was nothing for her to give mouth to snout to her tiny kune kune piglet{true story} or to carry a near frozen budgie around in her pocket, to warm it up,  while she cleaned the kindy!!!  I could go on and on!!  She fits so much into her days and always has time for others.  Mum, you're a legend!!

I thought I'd share a few memories that taught me some valuable life lessons.....there were lots of memories to choose from but these ones are always at the top of my brain :)

Memory #1

One Christmas {1980} my brother and I got our first bikes!  What excitement!  Todd got a red BMX and I got a red dragster, with a red and green banana seat, big handle bars and a basket on the front.  Those bikes took us everywhere!  We were still in Australia then so we cruised around in the sun and thought we were awesome.  We were the coolest kids in the neighbourhood.  Now I know, that mum had those bikes on lay buy for just about the whole year so that she could pay them off in time for Christmas.  Lesson learned - budgeting skills and sacrifice.

Me and my first bike.

Memory #2

We were all out at my cousin's farm, where we spent a lot of time on the weekends and always had so much fun {that's your farm, Luke} and on this particular day, Mum told me not to go back outside because we were going home shortly.....did I listen?  Ummmm, no way!!!!  My cousin {that's you, Luke} and I took off outside to play on this huge dead, fallen over tree.  We always used to play on it - one day it was a rocket, the next a pirate ship {kids had imaginations back then} so on this day, we decided to see how far we could climb  We climbed pretty high when SNAP.  The branch we were on broke and we fell to the ground.  Now, we were up pretty high and hit the ground with a thud, me on top of my cousin.  He got a couple of scratches and me, well, I ripped off half my face.  Half my face!!!  I went screaming, and I mean screaming into mum who grabbed me, hugged me and started to clean me up.  My face was full of debris and prickles, oh the pain!  So off to the doctors we go, any way to cut a long horror story short.....Lesson learned - listen to your mum and do as you're told, then you won't have to get splinters dug out of your face!

My battle wounds.  Note the sad expression! 1980 {a good and bad year!}

Memory #3

Mum had bought me some beautiful church shoes.  Mum was always careful with money so we had a pair of church shoes, a pair of sneakers, thongs {jandals or flip flops} and a pair of school shoes.  And really, we wore bare feet most of the time so we didn't need a lot of shoes, lol! Anyway, these church shoes were pretty.  Imagine chocolate brown patent leather {stop it, they were gorgeous back then!} with a mary-jane strap, when I walked they clicked on the floor {all girls now how important that sound was as a kid, don't deny it!} so you get it, they were hot! So naturally, me being the strong headed child that I was, I thought they'd look great with my school uniform! {and I was right, they did} After begging, crying, nagging and just generally going on about it, Mum finally gave me the opportunity to choose for myself.  I chose to wear those shoes to school!!  To cut this long horror story short, let's just say, jump rope and double dutch is no place for elegant church shoes.  Lesson learned - mum gave me the chance to use my free agency and taught me that choices always have a consequence. {my consequence was scratched and scuffed church shoes for a couple of months until mum could afford new ones}

The shoes.....before I trashed them.

Memory #4

After we moved to New Zealand, it took us a while to find our feet.  So there was some pretty lean times.  Our second Christmas in NZ always sticks in my mind.  I was given 2 small presents.  Back then, I was devastated. We were poor! But we had a wonderful Christmas day.  Mum and Dad had decided to use what money they had on the whole family rather than on loads of presents and we had a feast!  The food was delicious, we played games and laughed ourselves silly.  Mum also made a special effort each birthday to make us a yummy birthday cake.  We looked forward to the cake more than our presents. Lesson learned - you don't have to spend a lot of money to create lasting memories, and family time is more important than material things.

My 7th birthday.  

My 9th birthday.

10th birthday.  All cakes homemade, dresses homemade!  The good old days.  Mum even used her hot rollers to curl my hair in this photo!

Memory #5

Over the years, Mum has used her time and talents to teach me so many things.  She has taught me to crochet, knit and sew.  Mum taught me to sew on her old treadle machine.  I can remember getting aching legs from pushing the treadle as I made my Cabbage Patch Kids clothes {it's not that funny!} and even though I kept asking to go on her flash electric machine, she would always send me back to the treadle until I had mastered my skills.  Lesson learned - you've got to walk before you can run and I wrecked a lot of stuff as a kid so Mum was just protecting her sewing machine from the wrath of Trudy!!!

My baby alive, Kim Kelly and I.  Mum made untold outfits and blankets for this doll. {I still have the doll!!}

Well, you kind of get the idea....my Mum is amazing!  She has had plenty of trials in her life and endured some pretty tough challenges but she always pulls through with grace and positivity and I'm often amazed at her inner strength and faith.  I have learned so much from my mum and I know I still have plenty more to learn.

I love you Mum.  Thank you for the wonderful job you did in raising me, Todd and Drewe.  Thank you for the sacrifices you made and the choices you made that make us the family that we are today.  Thank you for teaching me to be kind, caring, compassionate, loving and understanding.  Thank you for being a good example to me and for always having time for me.  Thank you for being a beautiful Granma to my children.  They love you so much.  And thank you for showing me that we can overcome trials in our life if we keep going, keep trying and keep being positive.  You are a fantastic mum and granma and I wouldn't change you for the world.  

Macy, Mum and I.

I know many of you don't have your mum's to celebrate with this Mother's Day for a variety of reasons so whether they are with you physically, in your thoughts or in your memories, take some time to be grateful for the lessons they taught you, the good times and the bad and think of them with love because they love you.

Happy Mother's Day

trudy_n xoxx