04/30/2026
My mom was spring cleaning, and that meant distracted.
Pair that with my dad’s most continual instruction of “go the extra mile” and boy were my parents in for it.
You see my mom had set all six kids twin mattress outside to deep clean the rooms/ get them fresh air.
This was for sure our opportunity to help! The mattresses were leaned up against our backyard picket fence, so we began running and body slamming them to get the dust out.
“Go the extra mile” we all thought as we turned on the hose to wet the mattresses ‘for cleaning purposes,’ of course.
Before anyone could blink, we had all six mattresses lined up, the hose full blast, several inches of water in the backyard, and the mattresses completely water logged.
And could we really go the extra mile of cleaning without soap? Add several bottles of dawn an all the neighborhood kids.
Now, we were cleaning & had the world’s best slip and slide imaginable.
I remember my mom walked out and saw the chaos, then simply walked back in.
I always attributed it to her being that calm, but she told me years later it was her way of STAYING calm and not getting mad.
In all my years of childhood, my mom was the queen of “yes,” but not in a gentle parenting way. A yes to endless mud fights, a yes to creek swimming, a yes to using her sheets for make-shift hammocks.
But you wanna know what she saved her “no’s” for? What really mattered. No, we won’t lie; no, we don’t use those words; no, we don’t treat someone like that.
Her “no’s” were for character building.
Now with seven kids of my own, I’m trying to be just like her.
Save your no’s for what matters. ♥️🤍
