#adulting 1

My mom is perfect.

Not like, My Mom is Better than Your Mom (though she is). Like, My mom is PERFECT.

You have to know her very, very well to see her flaws. 

So when I say she both didn’t do a very good job of teaching me how to be an adult and she also taught me everything I need to know about being an adult, you’ll know I’m not biased.

She was and is a great example.  I was a senior in high school before I realized what my mom did every day. She went back to work that year and most of what she had been doing either didn’t get done or was done by me.

My mom taught me everything from how to fix a running toilet to how to run a load of whites. What I know about cooking, cleaning, and housework, I largely learned from her. She made me do it, early and often, and I appreciate the lesson.

One thing she didn’t teach me was HOW. How she kept a perfect household when she was there. How she maintained a nearly-perfect household when she wasn’t there. How she got up every day and did the things. 

I was in my thirties before I realized the truth. When she finally told me the secret:

She had to learn how to do it. 

The answer to HOW was both super simple and completely complicated.

You learn.

I guess that’s what’s going on here. Learning. It’s a struggle, and it’s painful, but if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s learning.

What are you learning to do this summer? How are your struggles interwoven with your successes?