From our earliest memories, moms, grandmas, aunts, another mother figures often play a key role. Ask staff at Tandem about our favorite childhood memories with mother figures and you’ll hear so many stories. As Mother’s Day approaches, it’s a great time to think back on those memories, when our moms turned even the most mundane moments into magic. To celebrate those moments and the moms who made them possible, Tandem staff collected together some of our favorite stories. We love moms and love having an opportunity to celebrate them! If you’re looking for a way to celebrate your mom this month, be sure to get her a card from Tandem!

Tania

My mom would always plan trips to Mexico so we could visit our family. One year she changed it up and had all family members meet in Acapulco so we could enjoy the nice weather by the ocean. My mom is a super-planner so all activities were scheduled and confirmed for this trip. She made sure my sister and I were always wearing matching outfits- this included a bright red Winnie the Pooh bathing suit that I’m sure she still has in a box of memories somewhere in the garage. One of agenda items was a family boat ride which made her sea sick. Turns out she wasn’t sea sick-we came back home to LA and got the announcement that I was going to be a big sister again!

Paola

My mom was a single parent so when I was young I would always hang out with her at her office or in the field at work. My favorite adventures with my mom were when she brought me to her outreach activities; when she had to host a fiesta or beauty pageant and when she had to bring me to a rave when I was 12 years old. She’s the first person to ever hosted a rave in the province and did many great work being a DJ/broadcaster.  She used to be a manager for a radio station (Love Radio and she was once Dr. Heart) in the province. My mom was sort of popular especially in the market. We would get free dried fish and some veggies whenever we went.  I got to know my mom through the hearts she touched. My mom showed me how to treat people and how to be kind to everyone.

Sara

My mother was always the wilderness woman taking our family hiking, rock climbing, and camping all over California. One adventure that will always stick with me was our mother-daughter spelunking trip when I was about 9 years old. We drove eight hours up the 5 freeway from Los Angeles to the California Caving Grotto. Strapping on helmets, flashlights, and knee pads, we spent three days exploring the beautiful caves of California’s Gold country. I remember the thrill I felt as we crawled through muddy tunnels to discover crystal lined caverns, cave rivers, blind salamanders, and stalagmites and stalactites galore!

The trip was so incredible! Even when we got caught in a torrential downpour on the last day and had to scale down the side of a mountain to reach our car, I kept a smile on my face because I knew I was safe with my mother. These adventures with my mother taught me that girls can be just as tough as the boys and that we too can find fun and comfort in nature. We still hike and adventure together into my adulthood. Just two years ago we traveled to Guatemala to explore the Mayan ruins, climb volcanoes, and boat in crater lakes. I will always appreciate the adventurous spirit she instilled in me and can’t wait to plan our next expedition!

Des

I loved to play in the backyard while my mom was gardening. One day, I decided to get more involved in planting some vegetables with my mom. I asked my mom if I could plant some too. I dug and dug and dug and dug, what felt like at least three feet deep! Then I dumped all the seeds into the hole and covered it with dirt. She then let me spray the seeds I planted with water. Every day for a week I flooded her vegetable garden. Unsurprisingly, nothing I had planted grew and I’m sure some of the things she planted didn’t grow either due to my frequent watering. I was so upset. My mom explained that good things take time and effort. My mom patiently allowed me to destroy that patch of her vegetable garden so I could feel involved and learn from my mistakes.

Molly

I am one of eleven siblings, so time alone with my mother was a rare experience. One year, though, when I was five, I got to go to Disneyland all by myself with my mother. I couldn’t have been more thrilled. We took the Greyhound bus, which was incredibly exotic to me, and we chatted all morning, just the two of us. It’s funny that I don’t remember much about Disneyland, but I guess that’s because what stuck with me was that my mom and I could be best friends. I was sure she liked me better than any of the other kids after we had this bonding experience.

The most striking point of this was that I came to know she  would do absolutely anything for me. Our bus stopped for lunch in Bakersfield, where I got to eat delicious fried chicken while sitting on the rotating sparkly red stool at the bus stop cafe. Unfortunately, I started to choke. My mom rushed me to the bathroom, where all manner of squeezing didn’t dislodge the culprit. I remember her leaning over me looking in my throat, and thinking that she better have an idea, because I was in pain and I was counting on her to figure something out. She finally saw it. A chicken bone lodged side to side across my throat. There was no alternative. She reached in with her hand and snapped it in two. I coughed and the bone was out.

She’d already been pretty magnificent in my eyes, but now we were best friends, and she had saved my life! I imagine I had a good time at Disneyland, but really, it wouldn’t have mattered where we went after that bus stop. As long as we were together.

Kaitlin

I grew up in San Diego and like many San Diegans, was a frequent visitor of the San Diego Zoo. The San Diego Zoo is home to over 3,500 animals and spans 99 acres. That’s a lot of animals and a lot of terrain to explore! However, my absolute favorite animals were, and still are, the monkeys. My mom would pick me up from preschool, drive us to the zoo, and let me sit and stare at the chimpanzees and the orangutans all day. I would swing in front of the chimpanzee bars, put my small hand on the glass of the orangutan exhibit and stare into their great big brown eyes.  My mom would sit patiently in silence while I wondered at these intelligent creatures. She would also answer my endless stream of questions  like, “Why is their fur orange?, why do their faces look like that?, can I have a pet monkey?” when I came out of my quiet reverie. I loved these special moments where it was just me and my mom. She would even let me determine the itinerary: what animals we would see, how long we would stay, and whether we would talk or quietly observe together.

We often ended the day with a kids meal from the zoo cafe. Lunch was a kid-friendly meal like grilled cheese, hot dog, or chicken fingers always in a plastic play bucket with a thin flimsy handle and animal-themed designs. We would then drive back home to pick-up my older brother from elementary school. I’d stack my new zoo meal bucket onto a growing tower of containers in our room, each one as dearly treasured as the last.

Dwyn

My mom and grandma are two of the most important people in my life! When I was young, my mother planned a big trip to Southern California to go to Legoland, the San Diego Zoo, and Sea World. My grandmother came with us for the week, even though her idea of a fun day has never been amusement parks. We spent a whole week together and had so much fun. Chasing around my brother and I must have been exhausting but mom and grandma never complained.

Spending a whole week with both mom and grandma was so special to me. I still remember how exciting it was to run around the zoo to look at every big cat that I could find. Even my cat-hating grandma was happy to go with me as I got excited about tigers, leopards, and any other cat I could find! By the end of the week, we were all tired and ready to go home. The memories of this week are so special to me. Traveling with mom and grandma was a rare treat and I’m so glad we got to have that experience together!