Motherhood: The Longest-Running Continuous Production Of Your Life

Happy Mother’s Day!

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I miss Erma.

Happy Mother’s Day to Mothers everywhere!

Source: The Gettysburg Times

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Comments

  1. This is so perfect. Happy Mother’s Day.

  2. Jake's a Girl says

    I miss Erma, too. What a fantastic lady.
    Like you I have only one son. I didn’t Mother a house full of littles running every which way but loose. I have one son who was the easiest child ever to raise. He like your son has become a first time dad. He is rocking it! At 14-months old my grandson is of course amazing. 🙂 So somewhere down the line I seemed to have done a few things right. I’m so thankful God gave me the chance to Mother this boy. He was 40 his birthday and is still the easiest child to raise.
    I got to spend yesterday with our son and grandson as today they are spending the day with the DIL’s family. We
    had a wonderful day. He still holds my heart in his little grubby hands.
    Blessed Mother’s Day to you and your DIL.

    Jake’s a Girl

  3. PatinCal says

    Oh, I miss her too! This is my favorite piece by her:
    Some day when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a mother, I will tell them:

    I loved you enough to ask about where you were going, with whom and what time you would get home.

    I loved you enough to insist that you buy a bike, that we could afford to give you, with your own money.

    I loved you enough to make you return a Milky-Way— with a bite out of it—to the drug store and to confess “I stole this.”

    I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that would have taken me 15 minutes.

    I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, disgust and tears in my eyes.

    I loved you enough to admit I was wrong and ask for your forgiveness.

    I loved you enough to let you stumble, fall and hurt.

    But most of all, I loved you enough to say NO when you hated me for it. That was the hardest part of all.

  4. I loved Erma, and miss her so much! She still makes us laugh while touching a place in each one of us.

    Happy Mother’s Day!

  5. Happy Mother’s Day, Susan!

  6. Erma does always nail it , doesn’t she? Now that my five have flown the coop/left the nest and any other bird cliches that are out there, I really feel the last portion of her message. Glad I kept the Gin Game going during the kids growing up years so that the game continues now that they are gone.

  7. Andrea Campbell says

    I love it! Thanks for sharing.

  8. Thank you Susan, it is so true. Happy Mother’s Day!!

  9. Thank you Susan for this article, I had forgotten all about it. That pretty much sums it up we are always on stage and getting ready for another performance.
    Wishing you a Very Happy Mothers Day.
    Mary

  10. Like you, I have one child who happens to live 18,000 miles away. I miss her and my grand dog Charlie :(. Having dinner with some friends in a bit. Hope your day is going well Susan!

    (Who in this world didn’t LOVE Erma??!!)

  11. Happy Mother’s Day , sweet friend. Thank you for the smiles. My daddy loved Erma, too.♥

  12. Linda Page says

    Happy Mother’s Day to you. No one can say it better than Erma. Jason bought 2 packages of my favorite cookies, a USB stick (to download all my pictures to) and a really cute card for me then prepared lunch so all I had to do was sit and eat. It was nice. I hope you got to go to the garden tours.

  13. Barbara H says

    What a wonderful piece. Thanks for reprinting it. She was a treasure, wasn’t she?

  14. Perfect choice ! I’m not a mom, but learned about it by watching my mother and sister. Learned from my friends who are moms, and learned from Erma. I read her books over and over – she still makes me laugh out loud – and from all these women, I learned that it’s the toughest job I have ever seen.
    Happy Mother’s Day and thanks for sharing!

  15. Hey Susan happy Mothers Day Erma Bombeck was my all time favorite author. I grew up on her books and sage wisdom her book”t’s always greener over the septic tank “was my teenage Bible of life.That is because we had a septic tank that was forever getting emptied. this story you wrote is a classic quote about motherhood and our roles are monumental. being a mother is truly the greatest blessing we could ever imagine. I LOVE my role as a mother in fact my baby graduates from college this week and I think I stand on the podium of life as the PROUDEST parent there is.Susie

  16. Susan, thanks for sharing this. I’ve passed your link along to several friends. This is an excellent take on motherhood.
    Hope you’ve enjoyed a sweet day!

  17. Happy First Grand Mother’s Day, Susan!

  18. I miss Erma Bombeck too! I remember her on Good Morning America and she always made me laugh. Mother’s Day was quiet here- phone calls were made and received. This us what you get when you want your kids to have a better life- they move away!

  19. Saw Erma in person so many times while living in Ohio. She was a regular on Phil Donahue’s local tv show.

  20. We all miss Erma. My mother is now 92. I remember her sitting at the breakfast table, laughing aloud while she read Erma. LOL indeed! When I became a mom, I, too, became an Erma fan. This year, my MDay was a weekend, driving to Dallas where my 2 boys, 1 daughter in law and precious first grandchild live, and late Sunday afternoon I received a face time call from our “baby girl”, who is in England. Blessings all over the place! They honored me like crazy, and we celebrated my daughter in law’s first Mother’s Day. Love them so. I actually have a MDay “hangover”, from the fun and sweetness of just being together! My feet will be back on the ground tomorrow 🙂

  21. SharonFromMichigan says

    I too only have one child. He’s 18 and works on the weekends. Of course he had to work on Mother’s Day, but that was okay. This was the first Mother’s Day that he actually bought my card and gift from his own meager earnings. I will treasure both the card and the gift always! (I do miss the homemade gifts though!!!) I had my MIL over for a late lunch and enjoyed cooking for her. I set a beautiful table and used the best china I had. We ate homemade baked spaghetti – but who says you can’t enjoy it on a beautifully set table on Mother’s Day. It was a relaxing and beautiful day.

    • Sharon, sounds like you had a lovely Mother’s Day. I’m so thankful for my son and I know you are for your’s too. We are blessed! So sweet of you to prepare a beautiful table and dinner for your MIL! I know she appreciated it. 🙂

  22. A belated Happy Mother’s Day, Susan! I also have only one child, a son age 32 who lives a state away. He didn’t call; no card, nothing. A little remembrance of Erma Bombeck helps shake the blue feelings away. Thank you!

    • Nan, I’m sorry…hopefully he has a really, really good reason. He may be one of those guys who has a hard time remembering anniversaries and important dates. Otherwise, we’re going to ring his neck, right? Hope you hear from him soon and tell him, only a beautiful piece of jewelry will make up for this faux pas! 😉

  23. Mom’s Day EVERY DAY!! franki

  24. What a great post, Susan!!! Thanks!!!

    Trish

  25. Alisa Luna says

    I love Erma. And miss her. I quoted her at an interview at a gift shop and got the job. The ultimate mom. love your posts. this was such a great one. I’ve been reading you for at least 3 years! (((Hugs)))

    • Thanks, Alisa! That is so cool about quoting her and getting the job…love it! What was the quote?
      One of my fave stories by Erma was The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic tank. In it she talks about living next door to a neighbor who had such a perfect, always clean and always in order house, that you would find her outside waxing the garden hose. I’ve never forgotten that…totally cracked me up! Can you imagine having everything inside your home so clean and perfect that you had time to wax the garden hose. Even Martha would be envious of that one. 😉

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