Our Love-Hate Relationship

Written by Keona

My mom and I have what you would probably refer to as a love-hate relationship- some days we love each other; other days... not so much. When we love each other, it's great. I couldn’t ask for a better mother. She’s willing to listen to my problems and girl drama and never-ending stream of story plots. Her advice is great. Honestly, there is no woman whose word I would trust more. We love doing things together. Whether it’s watching a YouTube fail video, going shopping, or reading a new book, my mom is my first choice for a companion. If we got our heads together, I think some pretty awesome ideas would be the result. We work together when it comes to teaching grade nine algebra and I’m not sure what on earth she would do without me in that area. Watch lots of educational videos, I guess. Or maybe not do algebra at all. I mean, honestly, if you’ve ever actually used the algebra you learned in high school, you are a rare human being. Either way, what I’m trying to say is that we’re like best friends 25% of the time- we really are.

That other 75%, however, would very quickly convince you otherwise.

That’s right- NEWSFLASH!! 

This amazing mother that you see here all the time is only telling you half of the story. 

You want the truth? 

Click HERE. 

Yeah, she hasn’t changed.
If anything, she’s gotten worse.

The cat attacks Lily? Over her screaming, all that can be heard is Mom laughing herself to death.

Someone wipes out on the kitchen floor? Your normal mom might say, “Oh! Are you all right?” Not my Mom. She thinks it’s hilarious.

Just as long as there’s no broken bones or a need for stitches. Now this wouldn’t bother me too much. AFV has been a family favourite for as long as I can remember. YouTube fail videos are the bomb around here. I think the problem here is that we don’t fall enough. See, she enjoys it and so when it doesn’t happen often enough, she begins to incite it. She’ll stick her foot out for you to trip over it, or randomly kick you in the butt. And, of all nine of her kids, I am her favourite one to pick on. I don’t know why. Ask her, although that will do you little good- I’ve tried. I don’t think that she has a good reason; at least, not good enough for me. 

For a while, I took it like a good child- ducked low when I walked by, asked her “Why?” when she did it, didn’t really retaliate....

Now, it has all changed. When I asked her to stop, she didn’t. When I tried to be on her good side, I was rejected. She started a war and it has escalated quickly. If she punches me, I usually punch her back- or find some other form of revenge. Sometimes my dad gets frustrated by our nearly-constant bickering or from having to break us away from a fight on the couch.

Just to make this clear, we would never actually hurt each other… much. I know that my mom loves me and I love her.

Now, on with the stories.

Yesterday, we were sitting beside each other on the couch. We were about to do biology and the triplets (I’m not sure how many of them) had been playing on their iPods, so my mom took them. She then proceeded to ask for mine.

“Give me your iPod,” she said. Of course, I knew that I had done nothing wrong to deserve such treatment (as is usually the case) and so I refused. We had a [physical] fight over it and she grabbed my side with her nails. (She has long nails and they are painful when they are digging into your side- I just wanted to clarify that.) So I did the only logical thing- cracked her in the knuckle with my iPod. Justus came running over to stop us- he's good at that- and jumped on my mom. He then slept with his head on the couch between us for the next 45 minutes. He's a good dog. My Mom still has a bit of a bruise from my iPod that she complains about excessively. She deserved it. In the end, my iPod did end up in her possession but I got it back long before any of the triplets did. I won’t say how since she’s going to read this blog.

This is only one example of the not-so-loving side of our relationship. I won’t even go into the times that she’s thrown potatoes and erasers at me or called an “iPod-free day” because I spent a few too many minutes on Instagram or Temple Run (usually Instagram). Today, we realized that the ear infections I’ve been getting are probably due to a dairy allergy like Elijah and Jeddy have. We decided that I should probably cut dairy out of my diet and she laughed at me. Then she gave me a pop tart. See? She can be nice sometimes, but only if she starts to feel bad. Which isn’t usual. Besides, I always get her back. From hiding her makeup brushes, to exploding a kidney bean on her nose, I will find a way to make her pay, which then turns the fight into a full-scale war that lasts all day. 

I hate to admit that I usually lose. 

Except we don’t decide on a winner- it kind of just dies down. So I win. Kind of. Either way, 

I guess we just have a special kind of relationship. It's annoying sometimes but it's also fun and I think the fact that we can fight and then get over it is really good for both of us. It has taught me to forgive and also not to take things too personally. 

Through it all, I know that she loves me, and I wouldn’t trade her for any other mom in the world. Even one that doesn’t like to throw things at me.