Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom (And Whimsy)

Posted on February 12, 2025 under Wednesday’s Words of Wisdom with 2 comments

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3M.

Cookies.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It is a time to acknowledge those people who are special to us. When we were children, we laboriously made Valentine’s Day cards hoping that that 8-year-old sitting in the next desk might take a shining to you. They never did. Later in life when the serious courting began, we would often go all out to impress someone with whom we were infatuated. Emptying one’s bank account to take your date to a high-end restaurant was both romantic and often foolhardy.

This is not a story about infatuation, chocolates, roses or fancy dining.

This is a story about someone who continues to inspire me. My mother. She has been gone now for 7 years but certainly not forgotten.

Just before the Christmas break, I was teaching a grade 7 class and, in the lead up to Christmas, they were understandably jacked up. In order to keep my sanity, I bribed them. “Work quietly and diligently and I will make a batch of homemade cookies for you.” The bribe worked.

In the words of Robert Service from his classic poem, The Cremation of Sam McGee, “a promise made is a debt unpaid.”

January came and went and more than once, a student would stop me in the hallway to remind me of my promise.

Last week, on a rare day off from subbing, I decided to buckle down and make the cookies.

Mom is never far away. I’m sure that there are many of you reading this who experience the same thing. Something triggers a memory, and your mom is centre stage once again.

Mom taught me many things including how to bake, do dishes, polish my shoes on Saturday night, and clean French door windows, the most frustrating task known to mankind.

We rarely think about the process of making cookies. It’s deeply ingrained. It’s a process but someone had to first show us how to do it right. Mom was always a stickler for “detail”. All of the ingredients first had to be assembled on the counter. The recipe had to be followed step by step. No cutting corners. (One of life’s valuable lessons). Wet ingredients, Dry ingredients. As you use each ingredient, put it back on the shelf. Mix. Assemble. Bake.

I loved the testing part the best. Quality control.

While the cookies were baking, mom always insisted on doing the dishes. It was the first (and not last) of life’s lesson in cleaning up one’s messes.

With 8 children, mom wasn’t always around so inevitably, there were baking fails which often rendered tears when we were youngsters. Mom simply made us get back on the horse. Learning from failure – another important lesson.

Mom was tenacious and rarely gave up or gave in. When I went to the north to teach in 2019 and was finding the going next to impossible, mom was lurking on my shoulder. “Don’t you dare quit.”

After making the cookies and while they were still fresh, I delivered them to the students in that grade 7 class. I told them that keeping your promises is important. Before handing out the cookies, I went to the whiteboard. I wanted to use this time as a teachable moment. I told the students that if they could follow four simple things, then they would have a chance at a happy life.

Say please and thank you.

Show up on time.

Do what you say you are going to do.

Finish what you start.

My Mother’s Mantra – 3M

This bouquet is for you, mom.

Have a great weekend.

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