Mama Lai is famous in our family for a strong dislike for reading. It never occurred to her it was hypocritical given that she complains that her ducklings do not read enough and that we're "wasting our brains." Whereas Papa Lai will spend hours on the weekend at the library, the closest Mama Lai gets to the library is dropping her family off and picking them up.
Mysteriously, Mama Lai told me she decided to pick up a copy of a book that she heard just came out, Iris Chang’s book “The Rape of Nanking” and suggested I read it. When I came home one holiday she wanted to know what I thought, what I learned and as we discussed the book it became clear to me that Mama Lai didn't really read the book. Then Mama Lai confessed:
Mysteriously, Mama Lai told me she decided to pick up a copy of a book that she heard just came out, Iris Chang’s book “The Rape of Nanking” and suggested I read it. When I came home one holiday she wanted to know what I thought, what I learned and as we discussed the book it became clear to me that Mama Lai didn't really read the book. Then Mama Lai confessed:
“I read beginning of book and then I get impatient. So then I read the end. You like to read so then you can tell me if I missed anything good.”
Feeling like I had just been conned into being a walking and talking cliff notes for Mama Lai, I protested and told her I thought she should read it from beginning to end and that she was setting a bad example for her children.
And Mama Lai says, what she always says when me or any of her other ducklings complains about doing something for her:
"I am your mother. You owe me your life."
LoL, my mom doesn't pull that card out too often anymore. Maybe it's because she moved down to the OC.
ReplyDeleteMama Lai lives in Northern California and I live SoCal. Distance has no bearing on how often she pulls out that card.
ReplyDelete