My mom always loved to plant flowers every spring. I often helped her because I loved the flowers then and I still do. Colorful plants always get my attention. It was always fun to see the plants come to life as the weather began to warm up from a cold winter.

One of the jobs that I took care of around our farm was keeping weeds sprayed down and cleaned out. We had sheep that did a good job in the outlying areas, but up around the house, it sometimes required some weed spray. I was careful though in not using too much spray and no more than absolutely needed.

As I was cleaning and pulling out weeds, I decided it was time to finish things off with a little weed spray. As I’m walking around the house, spraying weeds, I guess I had just kind of zoned out. I was in my own little world, not paying attention and lo and behold, I did the unthinkable.

Yep, you probably guessed right! Without realizing what I had done, I sprayed right over my mom’s flowers. They were just blooming nice and looking so pretty. Of course, it didn’t take too many days for them to really wilt and die. I was so embarrassed and I felt so bad, but I knew if I told the truth, I would be severely punished. In our house, my dad thought if you weren’t bleeding to death, you had not been punished enough.

I did one of the rare things I ever do and that is I told a little white lie. You see, the sheep often got out and sometimes they would get into the flower bed. So, I decided to blame the sheep by saying they had gotten out and got into the flower bed. Of course, I’m sure my mom figured it out, but she never said a word. I’m sure she was trying to protect me even though she had to be furious deep down inside.

As the days went by, the flower bed gave way to the weeds and I helped my mom pull out everything to get it ready so we could plant new stuff in there. It was the least I could do in my mind and I think my mom appreciated me helping. It was my way of admitting the truth without getting beaten to a bloody pulp by my father.

Years later when I was in college, I finally confessed. I knew that it was safe because if anything, I could run out of the house, jump in my car and be gone. My mom and I laughed about it then and those poor sheep got blamed for something they didn’t do. They and my mom together helped spare the wrath of my father, but I still felt so bad.

Whenever I see a nice flower bed, I can’t help but think of the things we do to our moms. They may be innocent, but our moms go through so much trying to raising us into young adults. They have so much patience and love for us or at least I know my own mom did. I loved her so much and I miss her now, but these memories still stick in my mind.

To make up for all the mischievous things you most likely did, why not see what things you can do on Mother’s Day to show love to your mom.