5 Musts When My Mom Visits

I've lived in Dallas for the last ten years, and every year I take a couple of days off and  my mom comes to town for a fun visit.  We get to catch up, have girl time, and do something fun.  I'm blessed to have such an amazing relationship with my mom, and I really love getting to spend time with her! There are some "musts" for me when my mom visits that I thought I'd share with you all today!

• Pamper Mom: When my mom comes, I love to give her the royal treatment.  The way I see it, she has taken amazing care of us without giving it a second thought, so when she is here, I get to flip the script.  She doesn't cook, wash a dish, or anything.  I like her to wake up to her cup of coffee and let her lounge as I cook and clean up for us.  It really is a small thing to get to do for a woman that spent years cooking for and cleaning up behind me!

• Lunch at a New Place: I try to take mom out for a delicious lunch at a place we've never been before.  This visit, I took her to Two Sisters for a delicious, eclectic lunch! Technically, she's tasted their food before as they catered my wedding, but their cafe was a new experience for her!

• Go Somewhere Fun: I try to take mom to something fun when she comes. Now, we have been known to spend the whole visit talking and never make it to our fun destination, but this visit we did manage to stop talking long enough to get in the car and head over to the Dallas World Aquarium.  We had a great time seeing all the fish, birds, and animals from sharks to penguins to jaguars!  It didn't hurt that the place is pretty much all indoors so we got to enjoy it all in the A/C on a 104 degree day!

• Talk, Talk, and More Talk: Whatever else we may do on a visit, our main goal is to talk! A few days before my mom comes, we will text each other reminders of things we want to tell or ask each other once we're together.  We have even sometimes made lists of topics so we don't forget anything.   Just to be clear we don't gossip. My mom does not gossip at all, and I'm a recovering gossip, so our stories are things that have happened in our lives, people we've run into, and lots of self-deprecating tales that are just funny.  I love talking to my mom and sharing things with her.  After all these years, I still get to learn new things about her, and I get to benefit from her wisdom and experience.  

• Prayer: Before my mom hits the road again, she always prays for me. There is no greater gift from my mother than to have her pray for me.  Her relationship with Christ has been a model for me my entire life (even when I wasn't paying attention), so her prayers for me are extra special.

I have always known I have a great mom, but the more women I talk to, the more I realize our relationship is special and not necessarily common, so I feel extra blessed!