Solo Practice

Top 11 Reasons My Wife Nan is the "Greatest American Mom"

By The Greatest American Lawyer

For those of you have have read my bio, Nan is the girl who knew me for 20 days when she agreed to marry me. And, yes in my opinion, she was a bit distracted by the 'redness' of the Benz I was living in with my 90 lbs athletic and wise Golden Retriever named Prince, who slept on the back dash.  Nan did not seem to notice that I had quit my job as a lawyer, abandon all material possessions, had not cut my hair in over 8 months and traveled long distances by foot.  Somehow, Nan never saw me or our lifestyle as - well - totally and irreversibly insane.  As amazing as a wife as she has been to me over the last 14 years, she is an even better Mom.

So here it is without further adieu.  Here is my list of the Top 11 Reasons Nan is -without any question in my book, the Greatest American Mom. 

1. Nan speaks to our three boys Echo, Fields and Apollo as though they were human beings, not children. 
2. I always said that even in the years we made no money, she always was high maintenance food. She knows what she wants and how it should be prepared. And now Nan cooks fun, elaborate, high quality meals and snacks for these boys.  Part of her mission is to keep her boys fed well, with good food.
3. Nan reads books with the boys, slowly and carefully.  She takes all the time that is necessary, as  though there was nothing else in the world so important and without even a hint of rush. 
4. Nan teaches the boys about rules.  Mostly she teaches them how to bend them, or break them without getting caught.  Nan has never been a rule follower.  I guess that's one reason she may even love me.
5. Nan is what some might say 'competitive.'  If you don't win, what's the point?  I wish I had learned to 'win' earlier in life.
6. Nan listens intently to most everything the boys say and engages them in meaningful conversation about kid stuff as though it were even more important that adult stuff.
7. Nan smiles, giggles and sometimes even snorts in the most easy sense of laughter I have ever known.  I think it is because she grew up as one of seven sisters.  Silliness is a skilled trade in a house of seven girls.  And Nan was the entertainer of her family.  
8. Nan was a full fledged groupie of several bands, remained single until me at 34 years old, a hippie chick, a reggae devotee, endlessly irreverent and adventurous, and liked to spend her summers in the place we now live - Leelanau County, MI.  She brought us to Traverse City and for that me and the boys are forever indebted. Need I say more? 
9. Nan loves the beach and insists that the boys spend the entire summer along the Lake Michigan Sleeping Bear Dunes Lakeshore, from her summer condo at the Homestead Resort with lazy days at the Glen Lake Yacht Club. It's tough, but I am sure it is good for the brothers to learn how to rough it.
10. Some of Nan's beauty seems to have transferred to my children.  They are all gorgeous and we know it didn't come from me.
11. Nan loves and cares for the brothers as though she were - well - a mom. 

Happy Mother's Day Nankins.  I love you for loving the boys 24x7 and me on occasion as well.  Your best friend  -  E.   : - )

Full post as published by The Greatest American Lawyer on May 13, 2009 (boomark / email).