Things My Mother Taught Me

My mother taught me many things,
though not so many domestic chores.
Though she was a good cook,
sewed a neat stitch, 
and kept our house clean enough 
to be healthy while
dirty enough to be happy,
I don't think she enjoyed those skills enough
to want to spend a lot of time passing them along.

What she did teach me 
was about being a good person,
and how to live in the world.
She began with love—
and there was that in abundance.
Love being the most important lesson
because it gets you through all the hard times.

My mother could be hard sometimes;
she knew the world wasn't all about yes 
and you had to learn to accept no for an answer.
She didn't argue with toddlers,
she loved them, she played with them,
she set boundaries with consequences. 
When she played games, she played to win;
she knew the world wasn't going 
to let you cheat or give you an edge
just because you were young and adorable.
She loved us enough to teach us the hard lessons.
She rarely hit us, but when she did,
it was a slap, not a beating,
and you had been given fair warning,
so the consequence was your own doing.
I was never afraid of my mother,
but I never wanted to disappoint her.
I knew she would never hurt me.
I knew she loved me.

My mother taught me by example
how good people are supposed to act.
She worked hard every day.
She was kind and generous,
sometimes to a fault.
She was someone who would give,
even when she didn't have it.
She understood people have differences
but had friends of all colors and creeds;
it mattered more what you were inside,
than how you looked on the outside.
If she loved you, she loved you—
you might make mistakes,
but you could do no wrong.
She would defend you with her last breath.

And I will defend her till my last breath.
Were she alive today,
she'd probably be arrested
for being too sweet to a stranger's child,
or scolding a child throwing a public tantrum—
or scolding his mother for not watching
where her child had gone to.

Everything she did was with love,
even if I didn't always appreciate it.
She was kind,
but she wouldn't have favored 
today's notion of “gentle parenting”.
She loved us enough to teach us
how to navigate the world we live in,
and that world isn't always kind.
Like everyone else,she had flaws,
but anyone who knew her ,
knew she was a good person.
And isn't that what what all of us
want our children to become?

Elise Skidmore ©2026