The Missing Comb

Do you ever have one of those ‘mom-moments’ where you’re so annoyed with your kid that you think, “I’ll show you, butthead,”?   Come on, moms.  You know what I’m talking about!  Your child is driving you bonkers; maybe they’re writing on the wall or refusing to clean their room.  They’re texting while you’re trying to have a conversation or just being a plain old jerk while you’re asking them how school was.

In honor of those moments, please allow me to share a memory between myself and my mother from way, way, WAY back in history when I was a mere teenager.

I was not a nice teen.  I was a know-it-all, and I was mad at the world.  I wasn’t mean to people.  Just my mom (which I’m not proud of but that’s a whole other story).  One morning, my mom attempted to get me up to get ready for school.  As usual, I procrastinated until I missed my bus.

“But Erin,” you ask.  “How on earth did you miss your bus?”

I couldn’t find the comb.

Legitimately.  I couldn’t find it.  My mom was trying to get herself ready for work.  I was being a jerk, getting irritated with her, and because I couldn’t find the comb, I started ranting and raving, and I missed my bus.  This, in turn, forced my mother to take me to school.

I KNOW in her head she was thinking, “I’ll show you, butthead,” as she drove to school arguing with me about how I needed to get up on time to get ready.  She then proceeded to tell me that she would not call into the school to excuse my tardy and I would have to deal with the consequences from school.

Furious, I headed to the office.  When I walked in, the receptionist sitting there asked me why I was late.  And you know what I told her?

“My mom wouldn’t find me the comb.”

That sweet little secretary gave me an excused tardy, and off I went to class.

My mom and I still laugh about it to this day.  I tell her she should’ve found me the comb, and she tells me that lady should’ve never accepted that pathetic excuse from a perfectly functioning 16-year-old.

I wish I had some profound words this Thursday that allows this story to relate to a biblical principle.  But I don’t.  Here’s the closest I’ve got:

Love your kid.  Even when they’re a jerk.  Even when you feel like giving up.  One day, they’ll get it.  It may take a while, but they’ll get it.

And if you’re the kid, give your mom/grandma/aunt/guardian a break.  It’s not easy raising a future adult.

Happy Mother’s Day!

~Erin

“And do not forsake your mother’s teaching; Indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck,” Proverbs 1:8b-9