Ah, moms.
Once they were our favorite people, then they were, maybe, the last person we wanted to spend time with... and then for a lot of us, they were back to being our favorite people once again.
In honor of Mother's Day, we took a reader poll asking people about their moms.
Do any of these sound like you?
Charles Chamberlain
SW: What was something your mother did that you hated as a kid but have learned to appreciate?
CC: She used to complain to my father all the time that I talked back to her. But I just disagreed, but she called it talking back. So when my father came home, he'd give me a whack or two or three for talking back to my mother, so I'm trying to find a positive in that, but I can't. That was a ways back, she died at least 30 years ago. But she was always nicer than my father. It was a different era.
SW: Are there any things you do like about your mother? Habits, etc.
CC: We were always frugal. My father always found me jobs, so it was easy for me to become independent. I paid my way through college. I don't know if I could really pass on any of the ways that they had. My daughter's now 54, and she's really good as a parent, so maybe I did a good job. Parenting back then was much more rigid. They were tough.
Tia Swenson
SW: What was something your mother did that you hated as a kid but have learned to appreciate?
TS: Oh my goodness. She used to be very involved in my life, and now I appreciate it because she cares what I'm up to now. But at the time, I'm like, "Mom, go away. I can do what I want."
SW: Was there a time where you thought you were right but it turned out that your mom was right?
TS: Everything? Probably everything.
SW: Are there any things you do like about your mother? Habits, etc.
TS: She gets worried about everything. She tells everybody to be safe, and when they drive she panics constantly. She's like, "Text me when you leave, text me when you get there, text me when you're everywhere." I feel like I'm starting to get that now, starting to get that controlling side.
Aaron Bernstein
SW: What was something your mother did that you hated as a kid but have learned to appreciate?
AB: My mom was very good at making sure we had very good dinners, which I never appreciated at the time. I'd get very tired of chicken for dinner. But, I now realize that I don't eat a very balanced diet and she was just trying to get that going, so I very much appreciate that.
SW: Was there a time where you thought you were right but it turned out that your mom was right?
AB: I don't want to go back to the food thing, but that's probably true. She was also very aggressive at making me play outside when I was a kid. I'd always want to play video games with my buddy Michael, but we lived very close to each other so we would always go outside. There was this quota system where we had to spend an hour and half outside to get thirty minutes inside, so I appreciate that very much now, looking back on it, but at the time I just wanted to play video games.
SW: Are there any things you do like about your mother? Habits, etc.
AB: I write the same way. Her "Q"s are very similar to my "Q"s.
Liz Goodrich
What was something your mother did that you hated as a kid but have learned to appreciate?
LG: So many things. I know that I really used to hate that she could talk to anybody. She would talk to a brick wall. I mean, in grocery lines, talk, talk, talk. She knew no stranger and I always thought that was crazy but now I've turned into my mother and I love talking to people I do not know. You never know what kind of joy you might find talking to someone you don't know.
SW: Was there a time where you thought you were right but it turned out that your mom was right?
LG: I thought the Bee Gees and "Saturday Night Fever" were epic works of art. I don't want to take anything away from "Saturday Night Fever," but it had its time. My mom wanted me to go see Handel's "Messiah," and she kept trying to tell me how awesome it was, how it took him a week to write this and it's this most beautiful, enduring piece of music, and I was like, "Mom! The Bee Gees wrote "Saturday Night Fever" in a weekend!" So my mom was definitely right.
SW: Are there any things you do like about your mother? Habits, etc.
LG: We switch our closets out twice a year. So in the fall we put away all of our summer clothes and get out our fall clothes. There are very rigid dates when you do this. It's after Easter and Halloween, that's when you switch.
Interns Leigha Threlkeld and Trevor Helmy contributed to this report.
