Motherly concern
While I was on the phone with my mom last week, I mentioned how Steven and I wanted to stay in a secluded cabin in the woods (not this one) as a vacation to celebrate our five-year anniversary*. So my mom and I started to look at cabins on our respective computers. We found some beautiful ones in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. But my mom was a little bit worried about my safety if we stayed there.
“There are probably bears in those mountains.”
“I know you will be hiking. And there are probably bears in those mountains.”
“I don’t think you should go in to the mountains! It’s not safe! THERE ARE PROBABLY BEARS IN THOSE MOUNTAINS!”
Unfortunately. I do not recall verbatim what my mother said. So this could be partially made up in my mind.
Well, guess we just need to bring Will with us.
POW! Okay. Enough bear jokes.
Seriously. My mother’s motherly concern cracks me the eff up. We’re looking at pictures of a gorgeous cabin**, talking about this great getaway, and she is worried a bear is going to maul me.
BUT! I would be lying if I said her motherly concern did not make me feel cared for and loved. Because it does.
When I lived in Rome, I volunteered at a cat shelter every night (<— I really am that cool). Check out what my parents sent me in this awesome care package:
Let’s see. Lotion, nail files, my fave (still to this day) pens, Ramen, chocolate, a Spanish phrase book and… dust masks. And latex gloves. Hmm. Was that mom’s idea to put them in there?
Yes, indeed. She wanted me to wear the masks and use the gloves when I cleaned out the litter boxes (I maybe cleaned 30+ of them a night) so I didn’t breathe in litter and… the stuff cats put in litter. So thoughtful. Such a motherly concern.
She also got me two schweet tops to wear to protect my clothes. I still have them to this day! In fact, I plan to wear one to a painting event on Thursday night, so I don’t ruin my clothes***. Mom, aren’t you proud of me for still having these tops?
Who shows you motherly concern? How does it make you feel? Or are YOU the giver or motherly concern?!
*which was over four months ago
**Which looks suspiciously photoshopped.
***That would probably not be a bad thing.
Themocracy
I totally understand your mother – I was scared to death of running into bears when we were in Yellowstone. You should listen to her!
One thing I am wondering, however – why did she send you a Spanish phrase book when you were staying in Rome? 😉 LOL!
Hee hee hee. I asked them to send me a Spanish phrase book because I was traveling to Barcelona and couldn’t find a decent priced one in Rome.
Aha! Well…tell her she can send you some bear spray if you do decide to rent that cabin!
My mom totally freaks about the silliest things sometimes. But for some reason, I’m totally spacing on a good example right now! Ugh!
I also have some friends, like Mon, who “mother”. Mon doesn’t let me go on boats on the lake during the summer. Fact.
A cabin in the mountains sounds like a lot of fun!!! I’m not worried about bears for you.
I tend to have motherly concern for one of my best friends. Joey and I have kind of adopted her (even though she is his same age) and we call her our daughter.
I need to pick your brain about Rome, Barcelona, and all things Italy!! I’m going in May!!!!
Ooo! That is awesome that you are going to Italy in May! And you are also going to Spain?! What do you want to know? 🙂
We are staying two nights in Barcelona then heading on a cruise to Naples, Rome, Pisa, Merseilles, and Palma de Mallorca. I am looking for must eats and must dos for while we are there. We’ve never been to Europe before!
Ooo. That will be amazing. I so loved Barcelona. Check out all the Gaudi stuff, especially Sagrada Familia. Napoli… did not explore that much. Went through it though. Roma… how long will you be there? And I know what you are seeing in Pisa 😉
Just have Steven talk about NPR while on vacation and that should take care of any potential bear issues! : )
My husband!!!!! It drives me nuts!
My mom always tells me to drive safe. I have had my license for 3 years. It is really annoying. Also my yiayia (grandma) this I am going to get hit by a car every time I go outside running. Haha.
My husband worries about me everytime I go out for a run. He is always sending me news articles of people getting attacked on trails! I just tell him that he should join me and then he wont have to worry! 🙂
My mom always worries too. When I flew to Germany in 2002 to see a friend she was convinced the plane was going to be hijacked. Thanks for that, mom!
I like that – he SHOULD run with you. You guys have a race planned together this year, right?
Ha ha ha. Do our moms watch movies to get these crazy ideas or something?
I can get pretty annoying with concern.
Your mom, my mom, and my mother-in-law sound like they should be best friends. My mom and mother-in-law both worry about EVERYTHING. It’s to the point where Adam and I are very careful about what we tell them, because even the most casual remark will lead to obsessive worrying.
Example: “I worked late last night, Mom.”
“OH NO!!! ARE YOU GETTING BURNT OUT AT WORK? DOES YOUR BOSS KNOW HOW MUCH EFFORT YOU ARE PUTTING IN? ARE YOU ABOUT TO GET FIRED? DO YOU NEED TO FIND A NEW JOB? HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT YOUR MORTGAGE? ARE YOU GOING TO BE ABLE TO HANDLE YOUR BILLS? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT HAVING KIDS?”
And on and on and on….
O
M
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That is just too much! Ha ha ha. And yes, I think they would all get along greatly 😉
My mom is pretty sure I am going to die a violent death. She is always telling me to not get shot or be careful not to get kidnapped! Moms- gotta love em!
PS- One of the best parts about blogging again, is reading yours again 🙂
Oh geesh! It sounds like she has quite the imagination. Ha ha.
Aww, thank you! So happy you’re back! 🙂
Well to be fair, bears are godless killing machines, so your mom is right to be concerned.
And that is SO my mom. She’s always worrying about something – my dad and I were just recalling her worrying about stuff that could never possibly happen even when I was a kid, so at least she’s consistent. The first example that comes to mind is when I flew out to California a couple years ago: “Make sure you get up and walk around several times throughout the flight, YOU DON’T WANT TO DIE FROM DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS! THAT REPORTER GOT DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS AND DIED!”
My mother has had to get past being worried because I travel so much. She actually told me to stop sending her all my itineraries because it just cluttered up her email.
My mom always gets worried about the weirdest things that I don’t even think about. Of course no examples are coming to mind right now. But I think that’s just what mothers do. They get worried about their babies (even when we’re not babies) and want to protect us from every single potential evil in the world.
Hmmmm, my mom doesn’t really express her worries like that. She’ll ask me things like, “Are you worried about XYZ?” I remember she asked me once, “Are you worried about posting the maps of your runs on your blog?” She very rarely tells me I shouldn’t do something because she’s worried about me.
I saw a bear once when I was on my 20 miler back in October. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and I typically run to a state park close to where I live (it’s a beautiful 5 mile loop). I had never seen a bear until that day. I was running in this beautiful area, with the fall colors around me, on this two lane road, I noticed lots of dogs barking, (which I usually never hear), then I look up and saw a black bear crossing the same road I was running on!!! I didn’t get close, and decided to turn around right then! I was at about mile 18 of my 20, and needless to say adrenaline kicked in and I ran those last two miles faster than any of my miles that day!!! The whole way home I kept thinking to myself, “did I imagine that?”
I need your stats on how many times you have ever runned compared to the one time you saw a bear to share with my mom.
That is pretty neat you saw one, imo!
What was funny was I rushed home to tell my husband, but I hesitated to tell my mom! She’s always telling me to be careful. I told her a couple of days later, and she wasn’t too happy about it!
You can tell your mom I’ve ran close to 3,000 miles and that was the one and only time I’ve seen a bear, and I’ve lived here 4 years!
We stayed in a cabin in the Smoky Mountains for our honeymoon. But we were on the TN side.
I meant to tell you in your post about the relay race TRI that I thought it was pretty cool that your family is very active. The only sport my family would relay in is bar stool hopping. lol
Those are my two most active family members so I try to do a lot with them! 🙂
Haha that’s adorable, my mom is the same way! When I was younger it (obviously) bothered me a lot but now that I’m older I appreciate it more than ever! Nothing compares to a mother’s love <3