Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Does Mama Know Best?

Does your mother tell you who to date? Does she meddle in your life? Has she embarrassed you in front of your friends? Has she ever made you feel . . . crazy? Believe me, I know all about mom’s sticking their noses in one’s life. Everyone’s love life. You see, I’d jumped on a plane heading to my mom’s in California to escape a bad divorce. I’d been in the sunny state for less than eight hours when Mom has this tall handsome fellow show up on her doorstep. Can you believe that the day before she’d actually whipped out my old wedding photos to show this man my picture? But holy moly, the last thing I wanted was another man in my life. Ahh, but all I can say is, thank goodness, this handsome fellow was patient, and oh, yes, I’m forever grateful that in this one instance, my mama did know best. You see, this handsome fellow, Steve Craig, turned out to be a keeper. Not that all of my mama’s advice worked out so well. She liked the first husband, too. And there was the dye job she gave me that couldn’t be reversed and led to me wearing a hat for two months. And I can remember the fashion advice that, thank goodness, I was smart enough to avoid.

But, no matter how bad my mother is, or yours for that matter, she can’t begin to compete with Cali’s mom in Murder, Mayhem and Mama, my book being released electronically today. Cali’s mother wins all the meddling-mom awards. You see, Cali’s mom actually comes back from the dead to play match maker and to well… try to prevent her daughter’s dead-beat ex from hurting Cali. No, Cali’s mom’s not appearing in a puff of smoke wearing chains, but she does appear chain smoking in Cali’s dreams. And those dreams seem just a bit too real.

And yes, Cali’s mom is right about her ex-boyfriend being a weasel, and her mom’s desire to neuter the man, isn’t too far from what Cali would like to do herself. But now, her dead mom is pushing Cali toward the sexy detective, a very annoying sexy detective who thinks Cali still has a thing for the ex. Never mind that she learns the ex is now being accused of murder. Why would Cali want anything more to do with that guy? She would have never gotten involved with the man if she hadn’t been so stressed out about her mom’s dying. And why would Cali start falling for the cop who can be a bit of jerk? Surely, Mama doesn’t know best.

Or does she?

Now most mothers aren’t that bad. They may offer advice that lands you with perm that makes you look like a girl in the sixties, or a color that looks like it belongs in box of crayons and not on your head. They might fix you up with a guy they like because he has a nice career, but is short on personality and hair. But they don’t try to run your life—especially from the great beyond. But maybe there are exceptions. Has your mother, dead or alive, ever tried to play match maker for you? Has she tried to break up your relationship with a guy because he had one too many tattoos? (Granted in Cali’s case, her mother had her reasons!) So, I want to know, does your mother meddle in your life? Tell me a mother meddling story, good or bad, and I’ll chose one poster to win a $25 gift card to either Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

Check out the book trailer for Murder, Mayhem and Mama at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOjXesDUptM,


18 comments:

Diane Kelly said...

Meddling mothers can be both a curse and a blessing, huh? : ) What a perfect cover for the book! So cute and fun!

Alison said...

Can't wait to read this! Sounds like such a fun book.

My mom doesn't meddle much anymore. In the past I used to take her advice on hair and outfits, and the results were not
cute. Now she and I are friends and my hair and wardrobe are thankful :)

traveler said...

My late mother gave advice which was always heeded since she was old school and I knew she knew best. Her criticism was hurtful though and she doubted me many times. I do wonder what she would think of the young now who do as they want and rarely follow advice or orders.

petite said...

I know my mother always meant well and was concerned about my well being so meddling was not an interference but a joy for her. Any improvement that she could make was positive and should be appreciated. One time we went out together to shop, which was a rarity and she decided that a specific gift for a cousin was ideal. I had my doubts but kept them to myself. She sent the gift off and never did receive a thank you. She felt badly about the end result.

Unknown said...

My mother pasted away about 22 years ago but she never was a meddler. Its a different story for my mother in law she does meddle. Mostly by telling what we should and shouldn't do but she has found out it doesn't work with me so its not so bad anymore. Or I just don't listen to her.

Sarah S. said...

My mother doesn't meddle too much anymore especially since I live nearly 3,000 miles away, but she still hints that she wants grandchildren. She started referring to our two cats and a dog as her grandchildren, which was her 'subtle' way of hinting at grandchildren, but when I started sending her birthday, mother's day, etc. card's from her grandchildren, she got the hint that I didn't really care! :)

Great post by the way and can't wait to read this! Have a great Christmas!

CrystalGB said...

When I was single my mother was horrible about meddling. The worst was opening my personal mail and reading it. I would get so infuriated when she did that.

Theresa N. said...

Yes my mom is the worst meddler, we're so different that her advice is never right for me. Over the years I've learned to listen to my mother's advice and do the opposite thing.
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

Na said...

My mother is a sweetheart. She nags more than she meddles but with the best of intetions. She would never play matchmaker and I think she would be quite happy for me to remain single for as long as possible. She thinks boys are trouble. Hmm. I've "met" some pretty fun and meddlesome mothers in books though.

catslady said...

My mom has never been shy in saying what she thinks. In hindsight she's been right more often than not lol. I've given both my daughters advice, but I try to say something only once and then it's up to them. I wish my oldest had listened to me more and I'm thinking she may be thinking the same thing but not admitting it as yet. (She has totally struck out on the kind of men (boys) she has dated and got divorced after a little more than two years. I'm not happy with her newest one either (sigh). One of her exboyfriends just stabbed himself in the stomach and is still trying to get her back arghhhhh).

Brandy said...

My Mother has been gone for nine years. I miss her terribly, though she was not so much meddlesome as a very opinionated woman. *g* Now my MIL? She's meddlesome and not in a good way. *sigh*
So glad your book finally released today! I've been checking Amazon all week!

Pamela said...

My mother is a constant worrier, and I don't invite her over to my apartment, because I have my apartment the way I like it, which most of the time is organaized chaos.

Cut to one day when she dropped by unannounced to my apartment and found that the chaos was a little less organized. She subsequently called my father, they dropped by the following weekend and cleaned my apartment from top to bottom. XD

Kima said...

My mother passed away just a few months ago and I miss her something awful. She never really meddled, but she loved having gossip that no one else knew. My job overlapped her volunteer work somewhat, so I learned the hard way to be verrrry careful about some of the stories I told about work. At least one of them landed me in hot water because she felt the need to share (and embellish) the juicy parts which promptly got back to my boss!

Barbara E. said...

My mother tried to meddle, but it didn't do her much good. She refused to let me get married when I wanted to (at 17), so I went around her and did it anyway. She learned to just let me make my own mistakes and then she got to say I told you so. :D

Barbed1951 at aol dot com

squiresj said...

My Mom no longer meddles as she is in Heaven. I lost her Jan. 2010. So I would give anything to have her back.
She used to however ever time I went somewhere call to see if I wanted to come back home for pizza or any excuse she could think of. She only did it to make sure I was there.
But now that I've raised two girls, I wish I had done that more often. Before I trusted my oldest and paid for it. She wasn't where she was supposed to be. When jobs would call to see if she was sick and she wasn't even home, you wish you had meddled. She came in telling me she had been at work with sand pouring out of her slacks. She is happily married now and I have a beautiful 1 year old grandson. So there are two sides to this story.

Kristi said...

My mother doesn't meddle, but Oh My God my mother in law does.

She sticks her nose into all our business, is nosy as all get out and has to know what's going on constantly.

We go out with friends, she's calling the next day for the gossip.

She meddles with my 14 yr old and my husband. She always has to try and get my daughter into trouble about boys knowing how ballistic my husband is about my daughter growing up and liking boys.

I feel like moving out of state on a daily basis.

Michele L. said...

Nah, my mom doesn't meddle, she just nags us to death and then we do what she wants us to do. Ha! I guess you could call it, meddling with a method!

Like when she looks out her window and says, "Boy the grass sure is getting high." not just once but everyday for a whole week until we get tired of hearing it and then we mow the lawn. Bless her heart! At 86 years old she sure has spunk!

Michele L. said...

Nah, my mom doesn't meddle, she just nags us to death and then we do what she wants us to do. Ha! I guess you could call it, meddling with a method!

Like when she looks out her window and says, "Boy the grass sure is getting high." not just once but everyday for a whole week until we get tired of hearing it and then we mow the lawn. Bless her heart! At 86 years old she sure has spunk!