Moms Just Know

"Do you know where I put my karate belt?" "I can't find the vanilla in the cupboard.  Will you please help me?" "Where are the keys to my truck?" "I had my wallet on the dresser.  Where is it?" "Can you help me find my workbook?"  "Where did I put my favorite jeans?" "Have you seen my iPod?"  All of these questions are directed at one person.  Mom.  And most likely, she knows the answer to most of them or if she doesn't she will find it far more efficiently than the family member asking.  Why?  Mom pays attention to detail when it comes to her family.  She knows that she went and gathered the laundry from the kids' rooms and washed that karate belt that was in desperate need of a cleaning.  She knows that the last time a child made oatmeal on the stove top that child has a tendency to hastily put things back in the cupboard, knocking things over, making them hard to find.  She knows that a tired husband who normally leaves everything on his dresser, occasionally forgets to empty his jean pockets, which are now in the laundry pile.  She knows that he also occasionally leaves his wallet in the center console of his truck without realizing it.  She knows that the favorite jeans always end up in the dirty clothes and constantly need to be washed because they are a favorite.  She knows that a workbook is probably stuffed in some chair cushion that the child sits in to do schoolwork.  She knows the iPod is probably either in a pants pocket or in the washing machine because it never leaves a pants pocket.  She just knows. She knows where to look for just about anything because she knows how her family thinks, behaves, and lives.  It can be frustrating at times.  She thinks, "No, I don't know where YOU put YOUR wallet.  I didn't have it last, you did."  But she will go look anyway, because she has a pretty good idea where it is.  The heart of a mom always wants to help even if it can get tiring.  I sometimes joke with my husband, "How did you make it out the door in one piece before you met me? Is this some sort of marital condition that sets in at the point of 'I do'? You lose all ability to remember where you put things?" Haha!  It's alright with me.  I get a little bit of joy being the magician who can find the things no one else can.  They all act as if it is a miracle when I find something. "Where did you find it?!" "We looked everywhere! How did you find it?!" I just smile.