Dear moms, Thanks for doing anything for us

You always seemed to love the little crafts we’d make at school, so with Mother’s Day coming up, we figured it’s time to create another one.

Close your eyes for a second, and pretend you’ve just been handed a piece of paper with your child’s answer to a writing prompt that asks something like “what do moms do?”

This is supposed to hearken back to our younger years when we needed elementary school room-moms and Valentine’s cards for everyone in the class and “Boo-Boo Strips” for our cuts, but there’s no need to post this essay on the fridge. Just read, relax and enjoy. Because moms don’t get to do enough of that, we know. Because this is who moms are; this is what moms do:

Moms are people who will spend an extraordinary amount of time on anything they think will matter or have meaning to their children. If it’s an elf costume for the fourth-grade school play or a Grinch costume for the sophomore year sorority dance, moms will make it, even if sewing is not their favorite thing. Moms will make chocolate bundt cakes and special request birthday dinners, sometimes when it’s not even a birthday – just a day when the long-lost son or daughter will be home from college for the weekend.

If a project takes time, moms will plan ahead to conquer it little by little, wake up early, stay up late, or do whatever else it takes to finish the task and impress or surprise their children. Moms will sneak into the healthy lunches we’ve already packed, adding a bag of homemade cookies and a note with a smile. Moms are organizers, protectors, role models of hard work, dedication, self-sacrifice and optimism.

Moms do this out of love. They love us enough to want us to have everything – every comfort they had growing up, every advantage they didn’t have as children, everything we need to succeed – and not just things, but every moral, mental, social and spiritual support as well.

Moms let their own clothes grow decades old while they take us shopping for new shoes and outfits every school year. Moms neglect their favorite pizza toppings and let us order ours, or at least go halfsies. Moms almost always stay behind the scenes, taking none of the credit, when they’re basically the directors or producers of the stories of our lives, and should be listed prominently. In doing all this, they model unselfishness. It’s just how they operate.

Sure, moms want texts when we get to our friends houses or touch down at our vacation destinations, and moms ask us questions before we’re ready to answer, like when will you find your next apartment or will your bosses ever give you a raise? And no mom is perfect, each has technology she can’t figure out, or songs she doesn’t understand or quirks of ours she doesn’t quite accept.

But she’s a mom – far beyond just the obvious and biologically imposed definition of a woman who’s given birth to an offspring – she’s someone who made the conscious choice to teach, to support, to love, to dedicate herself to a family she will create and to those who come after her.

For all this and more, moms deserve our constant respect, honor, admiration and love. More than that, they deserve recognition every day – recognition we can give by striving, with all our hearts and all our minds and all our actions, to be more like them.

Happy Mother’s Day to the best examples of love and selflessness we could ever ask for, our moms.

Love,

Twenty-something Times

The starving twenty-something mystique

Here’s one thing I didn’t expect to feel like as a twenty-something: a starving college student.

I guess I’m a late bloomer, but I feel much more like the kid who’s buying cheap food and watching every penny now than I did during those marvelous four years called college.

I could blame plenty of factors, but I choose the economy. It’s a popular scapegoat, and I do really think it’s at fault for cutting the collective budgets of thousands of twenty-somethings who are lucky enough to have jobs, but unlucky enough to have low salaries, high rents and sometimes staggering college loans.

This unexpected feeling of starving student-ness leads some to be trendy and shop at vintage thrift stores. It leads others to sell their dressers and old TVs and Xboxes on Craigslist. And it has led me to become a careful budgeter, whether I want to be or not.

My budget gives me plenty of money for rent (although I wish it was less), food (I’m a fruit-aholic and eating my veggies makes me feel healthy), gas (cue up the $5 a gallon threats), cable/Internet (All together now “Comcast sucks!!!!), utilities (hey, at least water’s required to be included in Chicago rent), sometimes beer (Necessary. Totally necessary), and the occasional pro sports game or concert with friends (It’s called stress relief – also necessary).

My starving twenty-something budget has all the necessities, but not much to spare. Things that aren’t really frivolous – a new pair of heels for a friend’s wedding, better sports bras, a dishwasher-safe coffee thermos – begin to seem that way … unless I’m spending birthday money from the grandparents, that is.

As if the careful budgeting wasn’t enough, I really began feeling like a starving college student when I realized this: I’m more likely to drive the 30 miles from my place to my parents’ house for any occasion that has food. And I sometimes find myself dreaming of simple yet costly things like a grocery store shopping spree. (Hello, buying everything that looks good! Goodbye, caring about the price.)

When most people talk about “starving college students,” they’re referring to lucky young people at a time in our lives when money is tight, but good times flow freely. When we don’t yet have it made in the shade, but we’re having fun working toward the things we want.

I’d say that accurately describes the “starving twenty-something” mystique as well.

It’s a phase when we’re just starting out. An era that will pass with either a raise or two, a side job or a new job altogether. And in the meantime, we can enjoy living on our own, paying our own bills and striving to improve ourselves.

With all that going for us, maybe there’s no need for a bigger budget!

How to refresh your wardrobe without buying new clothes: In three easy words

Tired of your wardrobe? Want to know the secret to reviving your closet without buying all new clothes?

It doesn’t involve Plato’s Closet, or raiding your sister’s closet, starting store credit cards you don’t really want, or shopping at Goodwill. Read on, my friends, and you will discover the secret to an entirely new wardrobe is really quite simple.

I can even sum it up in three words: Meet new people.

Yes, meeting new people is the secret to making your old clothes new again. Because new people don’t know you’ve worn that red button-down to work at least once a week every week for the last six months. And new people have no idea your favorite turquoise track jacket was new circa 2002.

New people have no way of knowing your blue Chucks date back to middle school, or that you were wearing your favorite sandblasted jeans when you found a note in your locker asking you to sophomore year homecoming.

Yes, the complete wardrobe-history oblivion of new acquaintances, friends, friends-of-friends and love interests is one of their most promising yet under-appreciated traits.

Think about it.

When you’re spending time with someone new, your eight-year-old rock concert T-shirt is not so much a tired repeat as a possible reason to talk about music taste and awesome mosh pit scenes of the past.

Your Illini Pride 2006 hoodie can bring back a welcome flood of collegiate memories.

And you can even relive the fun of wearing that $12 H&M v-neck shirt – you know, the extra low-cut one you usually pair with a tank top – out to the bars.

See, new clothes aren’t what you need. New people, who aren’t yet as tired of your old clothes as you are, will do the trick. Plus, people are far more fun. They can, after all, carry on a conversation.

So, how do I meet new people, you might ask?

Check back for further updates.