Five Minutes with a Classic Mom: "I want to give my children the tools of compassion and faith."

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Five Minutes with a Classic Mom: "I want to give my children the tools of compassion and faith."

by Jacqueline

May 08, 2009

Flowers are, hands down, the freshest and fastest way to please Mom on Mother's Day. How so? Roses or ranunculus; daisies or dahlias, flowers' beauty and fragrance are proven mood boosters. But more importantly, it's one of those treats that Mom seldom indulges in for herself. That's where you come in. :)

To make your floral selection easier, on Teleflora.com, our Mother's Day shopping guide identifies various types of moms - for example, Super Mom, Gourmet Mom, Classic Mom, etc. On the blog, I'm talking with real moms who exemplify each one of the categories.

Classic Mom Michelle Mitchell is the creator of Scribbit, http://scribbit.blogspot.com. She sums up her blog this way: "Writing daily from Alaska I’m mother to four entertaining children and I publish my favorite recipes, reviews, crafts and giveaways mixed with stories of life in the Last Frontier."

Five Minutes with a Classic Mom

Q What job, prior to motherhood, best prepared you for being a mom?
A Besides being a wife and a sister? (I'm the oldest of six).

Well I worked as a receptionist in high school which helped prepare me for having a teenage daughter in the house (when the phone rings it's NEVER for me).

Working as a construction site flagger (the person who holds that stop sign to stop traffic) certainly helps me now when I try to get the kids not to walk through the house with their dirty boots on.

Being a piano teacher helped me encourage my two boys' love of music. Though ironically I grew up playing Chopin which in no way prepared me for boys who will only play 80s retro rock like Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Journey. All. the. time. At any given moment here you'll get "Don't Stop Believin'" belted out on the piano. Though it could be worse you know--at least they have good taste.

The construction jobs in high school also helped when I later had boys who wanted to know what a particular piece of heavy equipment was called. I could proudly tell them "That's a grader" or "That's an end-dump and a pup" and be spot-on. It gave me credibility.

Working at the National Archives in Washington D.C. researching a Civil War project prepared me for the hours and hours of homework I'd be reviewing every afternoon after school. Or was that when I worked as a writing tutor? Anyway, I've got LOTS of poring-over-papers experience.

But all kidding aside, nothing really prepared me for how much work and how much fun it's been.

Q What’s a lesson your child(ren) taught you?
A Well David at the dinner table last week informed me that Bill Gates was the inventor of Windex and microscopes, which was news to me. (I think he meant Windows and Microsoft). Of course he wouldn't believe me when I tried to correct his memory banks.

So I guess they've taught me to see humor in small things. And to be patient.

Q What’s the greatest gift you hope to give your child(ren)?
A Life in and of itself is an amazing gift. No matter what kinds of parents we have--good or bad, caring or absent--each of our mothers and fathers deserves gratitude for creating our living soul to do with as we please. But, having said, that, to be a successful parent I want to give my children the tools of compassion and faith that will help them make of their lives the best they can and improve the world around them.

Q What is your favorite piece of parenting advice and how did you acquire it?
A My parents taught by example in everything they did. They never told us not to do something that we saw them doing and never held us to a higher standard than they held themselves. So I'd say "Live the kinds of lives you'd like your children to lead."

They're more likely to follow your lead than to allow themselves to be pushed along in front of you.

Q What inspires you?
A While beauty--whether through music, art, nature or design--inspires me at one level what drives me to do better is seeing the good in other people. When I see someone else living with integrity or kindness or courage it gives me the boost I need to be more like that myself, which is probably why my husband is so good for me--he's that kind of guy and inspires me to be better.

Q What would you do with a spare half-hour?
A This week? I'd be ticking at my keyboard to finish my piece on Alaskan springtime which is the latest in a constantly growing list of writing topics I keep in my Moleskine.
Once I finish that I'd work on this sea-green cable knit sweater I'm finishing while listening to the audio book "The Black Swan" by Nicholas Nassim Taleb (my current read--I'm about 2/3 through and it's fabulous).

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Comments

Jo | Reply
May 7, 2009

What an inspiring & busy mom ! I think her four children are very lucky.
The questions were great-- really gave a good picture of her.

Soos | Reply
May 9, 2009

Classic Mom has a great sense of humor, which is definitely what you need. The whole family is working on compassion - that's where it all starts.

Joanne Schultz | Reply
May 9, 2009

WOW! Where does that woman get all her energy!! I've enjoyed reading her blog entries now and then.

Thanks for the giveaway!

crane trucks | Reply
May 16, 2009

Well you are indeed a super mom. With your 4 wonderful kids out there. I am also astounded that you have taught them what heavy equipments were. I hope you have mentioned also the <a href="www.i80equipment.com/...rucks.shtml">crane trucks</a> and its used in the construction industry.