Because mom said so.

Why, because mom said so.  I love those words, they have such power behind them.  No need for explanations, no going back and forth, no whining...just "mom said so."  That was the end of any further discussion.  So in honor of mothers everywhere, I thought I would share some of my favorite TV moms.

Carol Brady with that nifty little flippy shag hair cut.  She was warm and fun and herded those crazy Brady kids everywhere.

Florida Evans - I adored this woman and her roles.  She was a no nonsense mom with a heart of gold.  I can still hear her yell "JJ" and loved when she would give James a look that would reduce him to a smoldering mass of gotta have you, baby.

Peg Bundy...she was the antichrist of mothers but she always made me laugh.Selfish and self centered she still loved her family as long as it didn't interfere with her needs.

Samantha Stevens - everything about her was class from her radiant smile right down to the nose that could twitch which solved both of her Darren's problems.  She lived to give her children normalcy around her crazy and beloved relatives.   I wanted to be her as teenager.

Endora - Sam's mother.  Now this is a mom to fear and yet love.  In fact, it is from this show that I knew I would be called "grandma-ma" when I became a "grandma-ma".  From that wild flame red hair to the ridiculous blue eye makeup...she was a force to be reckoned with if you messed with her family.  

Ah, Mrs. C.  The only woman who could address the Fonz as Arthur. She is my favorite mom. The epitome of mothering and taking care of her family, hot meals, lots of love and a heart of gold.  I still remember one of her best lines to the family when they wanted fresh, homemade cookies...she was in the kitchen exhausted from a full day's of cleaning, shopping. laundry and cooking...she looked at them and said, "What, do you think I can just go the refrigerator and pull out a roll of cookie dough, slice and then bake them and I would have fresh cookies for you?"  Happy Day's writers often fused contemporary culture into the 1950s which I always enjoyed.

My mother. A woman who many say I am now looking like her as I age.  Lucky me, as she was always a beautiful woman.  But if I could be a fraction of the beautiful heart that she always carried, have her fierce love for all of God's creatures, own her infectious sense of humor and  maintain her never waivering moral compass and sense of justice, then I know I will have become a good woman to myself, my children and their growing families, my husband and to those whose path's I may cross.  I hope, as she watches me from heaven, that I please her and keep our family's heart well.  Not a day goes by that I don't miss her and I always think of her.  I love you mom.

It is from the many moms I have known as a child growing up in New Jersey (they were all neighborhood moms and they protected all of the children on a daily basis,  all of these TV moms, but most especially, my own mother that I have tried to take the best of all they gave and be the best mother I could to my sons.  I could not be prouder of both of them and I hope they laugh (and perhaps forgive me) when I would yell out the front door to them on a warm summer evening as the sun began to set and they still weren't home to get ready for a bath and bed:  "Jason...Aaron...if you're not home in 10 minutes, I'm gonna have your heads on a pole."  Really, this was always shouted out with great love.

Wishing all moms the very best weekend and a heartfelt Mother's Day.  Sea Witch