The Three Most Important Lessons My Mother Taught Me

It’s important to learn how to take care of yourself. Mom made sure that I knew how to cook, clean, and sew.  From the time I was nine until I was sixteen, I was in 4-H where I learned how to boil an egg, sew a skirt, and arrange flowers.  By the time I was in high school, I was an accomplished seamstress.  But I remember those first few projects–and what a pain in the ass I was about completing them.  When finishing my first sewing project, a purple flowered skirt that I still have up in the attic, I desperately wanted to hem it on the sewing machine because it was so much faster.  Mom insisted that I use a needle and thread and do a blind stitch.  I remember it took what seemed like forever, but in reality took maybe an hour in total.  Today I can blind stitch a hem in about ten minutes.  Because I participated in 4-H, I also learned other important skills such as public speaking and how to perform in front of an audience, which has served me well.  I often have to speak in front of people and as an English instructor, I have to be able to think under the pressure of my students’ scrutinizing eyes. Read more »