Saturday 9: Mother and Child Reunion

The Saturday 9  is hosted by Sam Winters. Nine questions posted every Saturday — sometimes random, sometimes with a theme. This week, the theme is...

"Mother and Child Reunion"
by Paul Simon (1972)

Listen to it HERE.

1. The title of this song, "Mother and Child Reunion," came from a dish Paul Simon had at a Chinese restaurant. "Mother and Child Reunion" was chicken and egg drop soup. When did you last eat chicken?

Yesterday — I had chicken noodle soup for lunch.

2. Paul Simon's mother, Belle, was an English teacher Monday through Friday and then gave piano lessons on the weekends. Have you ever worked more than one job?

Well, not officially. But I worked my way through college, which is just about the same thing as working two jobs. Come to think of it, I worked my husband's way through college too — and grad school!

3. Mother Winters taught Sam to always dispose of the dry cleaning bag, as storing clothes in the bag may discolor the fabric. Do you have any useful household hints to pass along?

I'm afraid housekeeping isn't really my strong suit, although I've certainly had a lot of experience with it over the years. My "household hint" would be hire a maid — not sure how useful that is.

4. Have you put away your winter clothes yet?

Not really. I've put covers over some of my sweaters and long-sleeved T-shirts. We have a big closet and I don't have that many clothes, so instead of "putting away" my off-season things, I usually just move them around.

5. Flowers and plants are popular on Mother's Day. How is your yard or garden? Is it green and/or blooming?

At the moment, the yard looks great and the garden is doing very well, too. The hubby gets all the credit for that. (And there's another helpful household hint: It's a good idea to marry a man who likes to do yard work.)

6. In the 1600's, the British began celebrating "Mothering Sunday." Children presented flowers to their mothers after Sunday service. When did you last place flowers in a vase? Were they store-bought, or picked from someone's garden?

It's been a while since I engaged in any sort of floral activity. I'm allergic to just about all flowers, so we don't generally have them in the house. 

7. The German word for "mother" is "mutter." What other German words do you know?

My father's family are German and my grandmother (his mother) lived with us when I was a child. She taught me lots of German words and phrases (I was her little fraulein). Then I took a year of German in college, many years ago. So, I do know a little German but not enough to hold a conversation. Traurig.

8. When Sam was a teen, her mother used to scold her for monopolizing the family landline. With the advent of cell phones, do you think parents and children still clash over telephone etiquette?

Not sure about that. But you probably don't want to get me started on telephone etiquette transgressions. We could be here all day.

9. To celebrate Mother's Day, Sam is giving away her mother's favorite, Hershey Bars! Would you prefer classic milk chocolate, dark chocolate or milk chocolate with almonds?

Those all sound perfectly yummy and perfectly acceptable. I never turn down chocolate, so just hand over the Hershey Bar and nobody gets hurt.

Happy Saturday, everyone!
And have a great weekend.

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