Happy Mother’s Day! My mom’s influence on my life is a massive reason I am here, happy, and making content on The Everyday Advisor! My mom is more creative than she gives herself credit for, more fun than she realizes, and such a good sport when we inevitably tease her.
In honor of Mother’s Day, I asked my mom the following questions. These are her unedited responses! May you learn from her wisdom, humor, and grace.
1. What is your favorite part about being a mom?
Hmmmm……that is a hard one for me to answer for some reason. I guess that feeling of “family.” Someone who you love and who loves you. Having someone who reaches out their little hand to touch your face because in their eyes you are the most beautiful person in the world! Someone who gives you a compliment and you bask in their appreciation, like, “Mommy, you are the best cooker!” (My mom did make bomb meals!)
Today all my daughters live away from me, but they call me frequently and try to come home to be with their mom and dad because we are family and we love each other. We need time together. A mother has ties with her children that time and distance cannot sever.
2. Being a great parent like yourself takes a lot of responsibility! As a young parent, were there any financial responsibilities that surprised you or were more difficult than you anticipated? If so, how did you overcome the difficulty?
I honestly cannot think of anything at this moment. I would say that we lived within our means. Now, my daughter the financial planner won’t like this, but we never had a budget. We knew what we had, and we didn’t spend more than what we had available! (I will let this one slide, Mom…)
So, we didn’t eat out a lot. We didn’t buy name brand clothes or shoes. I frequently got my daughters’ clothes at garage sales and they most definitely wore hand me downs. We rarely went to movies. Instead, we spent time outside playing, going to the park or even going to the mall in the wintertime so we could get out and walk around. We spent a lot of time around the kitchen table making things out of play dough or painting.
I do remember one time when the furnace went out and we had to go to the bank to borrow money to buy a new one and have it installed. The guy at the bank wasn’t really nice, and he made us feel like we were beneath him. He did loan us the money. We paid that off as quickly as possible. Later on, we switched banks. Then as the business grew, we had more money. Our bank valued our business. The other banker missed out on our business because he didn’t see the value in a young couple starting out. Obviously, there are a lot of variables involved in loaning money, but one should always treat other people respectfully. (Right on, Mom!!!)
3. We have all experienced successes and failures. What is the financial success or decision you are most proud of?
A financial decision that I’m most proud of is going back to school for my RN and then later my BSN. This enabled me to work part time, so I could be home with my daughters the majority of the time. I was able to volunteer at their school and go on all their field trips. I now have a wonderful job because of having my BSN.
4. How did your family view money when you were growing up? Did you talk about money?
My family did not really talk much about money when I was growing up. My mom did tell me that they along with my dad’s parents bought the farm together, and then my parents made regular payments to them. When my dad made the final payment to his widowed mother, she said that he hadn’t paid the other money. So, my parents ended up paying my grandparents’ share of the farm twice.
It’s sad to think that family would do that to you. After that, my dad kept meticulous record of all the transactions. As you can tell, I grew up on a farm, and we had routine chores plus anything else my father came up with to do. On the farm I learned about doing your job and doing it well. I also learned to take care of what you had already.
5. What is an important life lesson you learned that you would like your children to always remember and learn from too?
When I was engaged and then later married, I worked as a nurse’s aide in a nursing home. The other employees there were frequently talking bad about their spouses. I determined that I would not talk bad about my husband to other people. I was always mentioning the good things he did, but I never spoke negatively. They noticed. Of course, it did help out that I had a wonderful husband but even so, nobody is perfect, but they thought I was married to a perfect person because I always spoke positively.
When I became a mother, I did the same thing for my children. I would see people yelling at their children, calling them stupid, lazy or whatever, and I determined I wouldn’t do that to my children. If I spoke about them where they could overhear, I made sure they heard me saying positive things about them. (Isn’t my mother just the best??!)
6. A genie gave you a million dollars. However, you must spend it in one day or it disappears! You can keep what you buy forever. What would you buy?
If I had a million dollars to spend in a day, the responsible me would say I would tithe to the church, donate to Twin Lakes Camp and give a lot of money to my children and grandchildren. I might buy a house in warm weather for the winter months.
Now, if you want to know what I would buy if I had to spend it all on me….well, that would be easy.
I would buy a big cabin with plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms so the entire family could be there together. It would be located on a secluded lake. We would have a couple of small boats that we could go out fishing on. It would be situated on land with plenty of hiking trails. The cabin itself would be stocked with games, pool table, hot tub, TV, internet, toys for the kids, fireplace, etc…. (you get the idea). There would be a basketball court and other outdoor activities available. There would be a nice outdoor fire-pit. Anything to have a fun and relaxing time together as family.
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Well readers, as you can see, my mother is quite the gem! It is important for us to recognize and value the mothers and influential women in our lives who make us better people. This Mother’s Day, I encourage you to ask these questions (or your own questions!) to a woman you love. Click To Tweet
While you’re at it, read about influential women in the world of finance HERE!
