Giving mom some extra credit

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My parents left for an alumni event at Eastern Illinois University this past weekend and when asked to “hold the fort down” for the day and a half they would be gone, I happily obliged. I now have a whole lot more appreciation for my mom. A whole lot more.

Granted, the three oldest of us can handle a weekend alone and fend for ourselves with no problem – but that still leaves a 14-year-old who requires food and a lot of rides all over this small town of ours. Playing my mother proved to be a lot more difficult than I originally thought, the day and a half of driving to practices, birthday parties and church events was more than enough for me. I was very happy to hand the minivan keys and parental duties back to their rightful owner upon my parents’ return. Giving my mom more credit for her day to day schedule of events wasn’t the only lesson I learned while they were away. To my surprise, it was the person I was chauffeuring around town who gave me more insight than I ever would have expected.

I always have believed in the goodness of volunteering and the power it holds to change someone’s day, life or circumstances. That said, I don’t donate as much time as I would like. Between school and work, time isn’t always in excess, and sometimes good intentions are left as just that. However, part of my playing mom for a day included volunteering with my sister and her friends of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Sycamore as they put together a Halloween party for the children of Hope Haven in DeKalb.

Not really knowing what to expect, I arrived to a houseful of chaos as students and parents busily prepared food and games for the less fortunate of our community. There was a lot of running around, a lot of craziness and one or two unexpected injuries that come with rambunctious middle-schoolers. Amid all of this was a lot of laughter and a lot of genuine acts of caring coming from students who are not even old enough to drive.

I was inspired. By 13-year-olds no less. I was taken aback by the genuine way in which they interacted with each other and those with whom they came to help. They ate, played, laughed and read to children of all ages as if they had known all of them for years, as if this was something they did on a daily basis. I stood in the background of all the noise and chaos observing the bona fide way they cared and the authenticity of their actions and I was truly taken aback. With age sometimes comes cynicism. Things are oftentimes done because we feel they have to be, or because we feel a sense of obligation, not because its truly how we want to spend our time. I didn’t see this reflected in the acts of these barely teenagers. All I saw was a bunch of kids who aren’t given enough credit.

So often we hear concerns about today’s youth and questions and fears about “what our world is coming to,” but all I have to say is if the group of kids I observed are telling of the future, I’m not worried – not in the least.

• Erin Maher is a Sycamore resident and a graduate of Sycamore High School. She studies journalism at Western Illinois University. She can be reached at erinmaher88@gmail.com.