❤️ Happy Mother’s Day! ❤️
I am rejoicing with all the moms celebrating Mother’s Day this week. It’s a perfect moment to cherish with our families.
Mother’s Day is also an important time to be be sensitive to moms who miss a child. Next week, the amazing Becky Carpenter joins us with tons of insight for moms who have kiddos who got to heaven ahead of them.
Today, I share a story my childhood about my own mom’s wisdom and flexibility. I hope you love it. I miss my mom.
If you grew up in East Texas, maybe you went crawdad fishin’ as a child. If not, you may be in for a shock! Learn more about freshwater fishing in Texas.
Crawdad Fishin’
My best friend and I walked down to the creek behind our school. We were skipping school to go crawdad fishin’. She showed me how to tempt crawdads out with strategically placed bait. We tied a string to a bit of wiener and dropped our lines in the water.
Crawdads lived solitary, defensive lives from my childish point of view. Each crawdad hid away in individual miniature cave-like dens beneath an overhang of some kind to protect them from intruders.
But at least no one forced them to sit in class for hours each day. We waded ankle deep in cold water along the creek looking for likely spots.
This was long before crawdads upgraded to crawfish status on fancy menus. Also, before Texas had legal restrictions on all forms of fishing. Find more about how to use field guides to inspire a love of reading in kids.
“Only in Texas can mesquite have its own festival, then there’s a crawfish festival, a festival for strawberries, everything has its own festival, with each town having their own yearly thing.” ~Author Kevin Fowler
In my youth, crawdads were cuisine suitable only for hillbillies and the well-traveled. The well-traveled meaning folks who made it all the way to Louisiana. Hey, everybody knew that folks in Louisiana also ate alligator, but us fishing for alligator wasn’t happening.
Who knows what in the world they put in wieners back then. Grease spots seeped out in a rainbow ring on top of the water. Fortunately for us, crawdads find the temptation impossible to resist.
Pinchers forward, crawdads will grab the wiener and hold on. Their greedy persistence thrilled us and launched us into fits of laughter. We just pulled the string up gently, then gave the wiener a little jerk over the bucket and the crawdad would fall in our bucket. Ker-plop!
How those crawdads felt about swimming around in a whole bucket of angry crawdads, I can only imagine.
Mothers Who Understand Kids
When school let out at 3:00 o’clock, we stayed in the creek long enough so my mom wouldn’t get suspicious. Then, we took our catch of the day to my house and asked Mom if she would cook them for supper.
“Yes, but you have to peel them,” she responded. Mom believed in letting us learn the hard way. Some things are not worth the mess. Find more on teaching your children to love the outdoors.
My friend and I cleaned crawdads for about another hour. We popped off their heads, then pulled out the plump, tender meat out from their shells. To keep the meat nice while we worked, we returned it to water in another bucket. We discarded the exoskeleton to a neat pile nearby on the front porch not far from where we worked diligently by the front yard faucet.
Cleaning crawdads seems pretty gruesome now, I guess. Life was different then. Wild game, fish, and garden-raised veggies were a natural part of all families’ livelihood. Still, cleaning crawdads turned out to be nasty work. The dead crawdads were not nearly as fun as catching the ones hiding in the creek.
Stinky Messes
At the end of the afternoon, not quite finished with the task, my friend left to go home and I went in for supper. Crawdads would be on the menu tomorrow night.
All these years later, my mind simply cannot recall how I lost track of our project.
But I sure don’t recommend leaving crawdads in water in a bucket on your mama’s front porch for more than three days. Yuck!
“Cathy, why are there still crawdads on my front porch,” my mom called up the stairs one afternoon a few days later. Oh dear.
My, there’s so much to glean from my crawdad fishin’ adventure! We were two little girls trying not to get caught in our naughtiness. But eventually, the stench gave us away. Like a crawdad clings to a wiener, children often cling to bad decisions to their own destruction, if left unchecked.
Like my mom, wise moms know to let our kids experience the consequences of their own decisions. Yep, you can learn a lot cleaning up a stinky bucket of rotting cuisine.
Happy Mother’s Day To Moms Everywhere
I hope today’s story reminds you of all the fun things you did as a child, especially the moments when you learned important lessons about life from your mom.
In particular, if you’re a mom of little ones, I am so proud of you and the hard work you do each day. Your children will thank you later. Probably not while they’re in Junior High, though.
To mom”s everywhere, I pray you enjoy a sweet day surrounded by people who love you a ton. For myself, I hope lunch is delicious and doesn’t involve me cleaning or cooking any wild game!
Chris Legg shared this prayer for moms and I think you’ll LOVE it.
BTW, Please Pray for Me
By the way, Crawdad Fishin’ is from a new book I am currently writing. In it, there’s a whole chapter on sin. Sin? Seriously, who writes a whole chapter on sin for a parenting book? I must be crazy. Please pray for me.
Every parent of toddlers knows sin comes preprogrammed in our kids’ hearts. So, just how exactly do we parent the adorable little sinners we bring home wrapped up in all our love and a soft baby blanket? I can’t wait to share!
My mom was so good at helping her kids own up to our responsibilities. Since we’re living in an era when even our top leaders blame others for their mistakes, this is timely stuff. Please pray the Lord prompts me to share the best parenting stories. And share some laughter.
Thank you for praying! And Happy Mother’s Day!! ❤️
🙂
cathy
We LOVE to hear from YOU!
What embarrassing things did your mother do that proved to be extremely wise later? How have you changed the way you parent from your parents’ style? What do you see as the biggest challenge the next generation will face? What’s your favorite Mother’s Day ever?
May we pray together?
Dear good Father, You are a tender, faithful parent whose love is unfailing. Thank You for patiently teaching us what we need to be successful in life. Some of Your kids are slow learners! Help us to be patient and gentle as we love our own kids and grandkids. Thank you for the gift of family. Strengthen those who wait to be moms with hurting hearts. Comfort those who wait to reunite with children in heaven. Give us joy in this day, dear Lord, however delight looks now. Thank You for family, but thank You also for quiet moments alone with you. You are enough. We delight in You. Bless us now because that is You heart’s desire. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Favorite Quotes about Motherhood
“My mom smiled at me. Her smile kind of hugged me.” ~ R.J. Palacio, Wonder
“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” ~Milton Berle
“Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.” ~Meryl Streep
❤️ Coming SOON: You’re INVITED! ❤️
May 13th, I’ll be speaking at Newcomers Club about Authentic Friendships. Friday, May 13, 2:00 p.m. First Christian Church. Please come. I’d love to see you there!
Then, Becky Carpenter joins us with her typical joy and hilarity. I can hardly believe she talks about something as serious as losing a child with so much confidence, vulnerability, and eternal perspective. She is amazing and you will LOVE getting to know her better!
Plus, with Father’s Day around the corner, we’ll hear from Dr. Jim McAndrew. Two shows answering our questions about erectile dysfunction and then, his testimony. What a great line up for men and wives, too!
Plus, look for Tammy Whitehurst, Callie Lee & Gina Butler soon! And finally, with school out, Anna will be co-hosting again. I can hardly wait!
I am so THANKFUL for YOU!
Cathy Krafve, host of Fireside Talk Radio and author of The Well: The Art of Drawing Out Authentic Conversations and Marriage Conversation: From Coexisting to Cherished. We welcome your stories, ideas, and questions at CathyKrafve.com.
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