I wasn’t the one that came up with the nickname “Miss Mom” for me. One of my friends teasingly called me that… and then called me that again… and again… and it just stuck. After trying to figure out if I really liked it or not, I decided that it was actually kinda cute and that I would embrace it. ;)
So why “Miss Mom?” I’m #9 of 12 kids, so for years I was just one of the “little girls.” I had my chores to do, but all of the big responsibilities and stuff that went with being in charge went to the older girls. Then we moved to Mississippi on my 15th birthday… and our family exploded. All of the older kids got different jobs and/or started going to the community college close by.
After almost five years of living here, I now have four older siblings married and another one engaged (whereas, before we moved, not one was in a relationship), plus my oldest sister has her own house to be closer to where she works, so there are just seven of us kids left living at home. Nowadays, it's often just us four youngest girls at home. Timothy and Elizabeth are away at work all day every day, and Amanda has college. And when they are home, they're either resting or doing homework or catching up on their own projects.
So, probably about a year ago, Mom sat us four younger girls down and told us that we would be in charge of keeping the house clean. At that time, she and Daddy were working all day every day in our garden, and she told us that they would take care of the outside stuff if we girls would take care of the inside stuff. We all agreed, and that was my first step towards being "Miss Mom."
And then Grandma got sick, and Mom went to Louisiana to help care for her. Over the past year, Grandma has been in and out of the hospital, and Mom goes down at least once a month to take her turn visiting and helping out... which means that I'm the oldest girl at home, and thus (mostly) in charge of meals, chores, housecleaning, and making sure the other girls don't kill each other. ;P
Just kidding. They actually do great! And Joanna seems to be more in charge of the housecleaning department than I am. I guess you just feel a certain amount of responsibility with being the oldest child at home (especially when you didn't have that for most of your growing-up years).
Prepare to be shocked: I thoroughly enjoy it. I know, I'm weird... but housecleaning makes me happy. Settling disagreements makes me feel accomplished. I want nothing more than to be a stay-at-home wife and mother one day, if the Lord wills... and to truly be a mom, and not just "Miss Mom."
Question time: do y'all have any fun nicknames, and what are the stories behind them? Comment below!
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