Why a Laundry Basket Made Me Apologetic

When I was in high school, my mom was a stay at home mom because she left her job to do foster care. This meant that we were off the hook for doing our own laundry. She would do our laundry and we would bring our laundry basket up to our room and not put our laundry way. Our clean, folded laundry would sit in the baskets until we got yelled at or until it was empty. Then she got rid of all of the laundry baskets. I was so pissed. This meant we had to carry our folded laundry WITH OUR BARE HANDS to our rooms. Child abuse!
Fast forward to 15 years later when I have a husband and family of my own. It was November. We had just gotten back from Colorado for Thanksgiving and we managed to unpack some things from the move and found a second laundry basket. Awesome. We did laundry when we got back from Colorado and it sat in the laundry basket for 3 weeks. THREE FLIPPING WEEKS. It drove me UP A WALL. And yes, I could have just as easily put the laundry away as my husband, but it was the fact that it was just sitting there that drove me crazy. So it made me feel like I owed my mom an apology and it got me thinking. What else have I realized I am sorry for since becoming a wife and parent? Let me just pull out a few….
I’m sorry for bitching and moaning about doing the dishes and laundry while you were busting your ass at work for us. I now realize that when you worked a full day the last thing you wanted to do was come home and do more work. I get it now. 
I’m sorry for being a crabby teenager. While I don’t have a crabby teenager right now, I have a crabby threenager (it’s a real thing). So, I’m really, really sorry.
Not only do I have apologies, I want to thank you. Thank you for busting your ass for so long to provide for us. Thank you for teaching me how to be a great mother to my 2 children. Thank you for trying to show me what it was like to be a parent – me having my own children really made it real, but I had you to shadow. And most importantly, thank you for everything you’ve done for my family and me for the last year. It has been a rough ride and I don’t know where I would be if you weren’t there to bring me back up – again and again and again.
Mom, I wish I could do so, so much more for you for Mother’s Day. I truly do. But this “public apology” will have to do. šŸ˜‰ I love you. Happy Mother’s Day.

::::wipes away tears::::
I took to Facebook to ask some ladies their opinions. Now that you are a wife and a mom, why are you sorry?
“I’m sorry for rebelling so much and pushing her away as a teen – 25. She was so naive and I used that to my advantage. Now that I have 2 daughters of my own I realize I shouldn’t have punished her so much.” -Amanda
“I would apologize for being a brat and not showing her just how much I truly appreciated everything she did for me. I would have been (and still would be) lost without her.” -Lisa B
“Constantly making her worry without even knowing it. Just by simply being alive and her child.” -Nicole L
“I’m sorry for insisting you come to all my swim meets even on workdays when they were 45 minutes away. I never thought about how tired you must have been working all day and then sitting at a two to three hour swim meet. Thank you for always being present in my life. I always felt very loved! I am sorry that Santa was given the credit for all the amazing Christmas gifts you bought. You spent hours looking for the perfect gifts and then the big guy got all the credit.” -Lisa D

“I’m sorry I didn’t do more. I screwed around and didn’t take school seriously and I partied a little too hard. Now I think you deserved more. A child you could brag about in your social circles, a doctor, a lawyer some type of professional. You gave your all and I met you with 50% at best. And I know she would say she was proud of me all the same. That I am a loving caring responsible daughter, mother and wife. Still, if I could turn back the clocks I would be more, for her.” -Christy P


“Just all around being mean! And sneaking out.” -Melissa S

“I’d like to apologize to her for not including her in my life…I totally shut her out after I was 15 until I was closer to 20. I wouldn’t even let her hug me – not cool.” -Stefine A

“Mom, I just want to say sorry for ages 11-23, I was the absolute worst. There are so many stupid, hurtful, embarrassing and ridiculous things I put you through; like the time you caught me smoking pot on the roof or finding me three sheets to the wind in our front yard yelling for unknown reasons. You will never know how much I appreciate your never ending support despite my antics. No words can ever fully express my gratitude and love for you. Thank you for shaping me into the mom I am, Happy Mother’s Day!” -Gina B

When I was younger I used to stress my mama out & drive her crazy, & then she’d come home from work to a messy house. She’d always say “I’m gonna run away” & my sister & I would laugh bc we never understood what the big deal was & why she was so stressed out. As a mom of 3 boys, I threaten to run away at least once a week now. Sorry mama!” -Jenn D

“I would apologize to my mom for complaining. I am her 4th (of 5) so she was well prepared for it all and always had something wise to say. If I had only known how lucky I was to complain about the stupid problems I had. But I guess in the end I learned that my mom is a great listener.” -Jessica D




“I already did apologize to her for how much arguing my brother and I did. I nannied for a family who’s kids were the same genders and distance apart as my brother and I and they DROVE ME CRAZY! My brother apologized to my mom for all the dishes she had to do once he lived with a lazy dirty roommate in college.” -Kelly M

“Once on a short road trip, my sister and I were bickering over Chapstick. My dad grabbed it and whipped it out the window in the middle of nowhere. We both cried and talked about how mean it was for the next 20 years. Now, we kinda get it. Not about my mom, but it makes me laugh now that I’m a parent.” -Dorle W

I have three older brothers and my mom really wanted a girl when she finally had me I gave her the hardest time as a teenager i was always out and never wanted to be home. Flash forward and she was my maid of honor and since having kids the ultimate best friend. So happy she never gave up on her dream to have a girl because I would have never been here.” -Lynda M

I was just a PITA about everything. Girls and mom’s have tough relationships growing up its different now that I’m older I wish we had this way back when. But now I’m going to be doomed with a teenage girl who is just like me in a few yrs and she’s laughing her ass off. Sigh” -Stacy M

“Running away from home for a few days as a teenager was pretty awful. My poor mother. I have long since apologized for that, however.” -Bethany H

That I said “I hate you” more times than I can count. As a kid it was a way to piss my mom off, but now that I’m an adult with children, I would be devastated to hear them tell me they hate me, even though I know they wouldn’t mean it. I just didn’t truly understand that words really do hurt. My 4.5 yr old has said the hate word about things just a couple times and I tell him it’s a bad word just like the typical bad words. I hope to never hear them tell me they hate me.” -Christina R

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