My Mother, the Liar

My mother has this thing she does where sometimes she'll tell a really unimportant lie for fun to mess with people.  

Does your mother do that?  Probably not.  She's probably not as funny as mine. 

One time years ago we were all sitting at dinner, and talking about really cool things like we always did.  I'm not exaggerating when I say that the dictionary made frequent appearances at our family dinners because my parents thought it was cool to make us look up things we had questions about to "help us learn."  Whatever.  

So on this particular night, someone asked what the origins of OK were.  Like, OK, no one really cares but, OK, let's talk about it anyways.  

My mother informed us that she actually KNEW what it stood for.   OK stands for Oaken Cracken, which was what German people said when they tapped a new keg, or something like that.  She told this story for approximately 30 minutes before someone said "is that even true?" and she finally cracked a smile.  

Another time when I was really little she told me that toothpaste is made from apples, and that's why when you eat an apple your teeth feel so clean.  She also told me that if I chewed really hard I'd be able to taste the minty flavor.  I ate apples really really slowly, but never tasted the mint.  

My mother also will tell you that she never told me the apple mint thing, and that I must have made that up.  Just out of thin air.  

I think I've figured it out.  Being a stay-at-home mom to 4 little girls must have been terribly boring.  I mean sure, there's always the chance that we could have run into the street or killed one another, but STILL.  Now there's the threat of drunk driving, pregnancies out of wedlock, drugs, 25 year olds wanting to move back home, you know, GOOD STUFF.  I just think back in the days of just trying to get us to eat veggies and not poop on the floor, my mom was bored and needed a creative outlet since she wasn't doing much writing at that point, so we were her....outlet. 

My mother is amazing.  I should point that out, but I really wanted to tell a funny story about her instead of a standard post about how epic and sacrificing and funny and loving she is.  BUT DON'T THINK I'M NOT THINKING IT.  She and I cried together the other day while watching Frozen, so we're two peas in a pod, and now that she's done nagging me to eat my vegetables we REALLY enjoy being around each other.  

No matter if you're male or female, mother to humans or dogs or to anything else, Happy Mother's Day to all you nurturers out there.  Let someone take care of you today!

Oaken Cracken, though?  Seriously?