Below is just a couple of many articles Kentuckypine wrote while she worked for a newspaper. I thought I would post them for others to enjoy. These are full and intact, exactly as written back when they were published in the newspaper. I love you Mom :)


Saturday, May 08, 1976 Syracuse , New York
WHAT'S A GOOD MOM
Everybody Has View
By AUDREY XXXXXXX
AUBURN — Mother's Day seemed an appropriate
time to raise the questions, "What
makes a good mother?"

In an independent, informal survey, some
very interesting answers were found.
The most often described requirement
seems to be patience. Nearly all those questioned
appeared to believe understanding was
also a prime factor.

High on the list of "good mother" attributes
was the ability to communicate. Most people
felt that mothers who can openly communicate
with their children are also the kind of mothers
who are "good listeners."

A first-time mother said. “A good mother
has to have big ears, a small tongue and a big
heart.”

A mother of five youngsters said, "I think to
be a good mother a woman must have a tender,
understanding and forgiving heart"

One 11-year-old youngster, reflecting the
changing world, said, "A good mother is one
who wants equal rights but isn't liberated. She
can be equal without putting men down." He
added, "She's one you can turn to when things
go wrong, and she's always there."

A soon-to-be father said, "She must really
love kids, not only her own, but the neighbors'
kids as well. That's the way my mother was —
and she was the best."

One expectant mother said she thinks it important
for a mother to provide emotional security
for her children. She added, "It also
helps if the mother is smart enough to choose
the right father."

A school teacher responded to the question
with, “A mother should allow a child to grow
at his or her own pace. She should encourage
the child to be whatever he or she wants to be,
without pressure”

A sixth grade pupil was a little more practical.
He said, “A good mother gives you higher
allowances but less work” On a more serious
note, he added, “She's one who just lets me be
me — like my Mom”

A college student put it very simply.
“You've got to give children two things, compassion
and discipline; everything else will
just fall into place”

A grandmother with five children and 14
grandchildren offered this bit of advice: "It always
seemed to me that my children responded
to what they received from me. I always
tried to treat them as people who
happened to be just a bit shorter than I am.
"Discipline, of course, is very important,
but it should be administered fairly and with
an explanation of its purpose. It's also important
to treat children with the same respect
you ask of them," she noted.
Grandma said she enjoyed being a grandmother
more than she did being a mother."
It's a lot more fun; you can spoil the grandchildren
rotten and leave the hard work to their
parents — that's the very best part of being a
mother in the first place."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD, October 12,1974
"My Weird World"
By Audrey XXXXXXX
With Help from netter xxxxxx (yes our netter!!)

Every now and then, writers ''run dry" and I felt that
happening to myself this week, so I asked No. 1 child to
help me out. It's surprising how helpful they can be when
you don't want them to be. Well, anyway, she agreed to
write this week's column, and here it is, unedited and in
its entirety. I wish you luck... no, I wish me luck.

"I WAS SITTING QUIETLY on my bed, listening to the
radio, when my mom came home and yelled up the stairs:
"Annetta, honey." Now, my mother never calls me anything
except "Hey, dummy," unless she wants something.
So, I chugged downstairs (rather warily) and said
"Yeah?"
"Hello, sweetheart," Mom says.
Now, as anyone who knows my mother can testify,
"Hello, sweetheart" means trouble.
Really, all she wanted me to do was to write a "My
Weird World" for her. Ten hours and 4,000 sheets of paper
later.
I don't know where she gets her inspiration. Well,
maybe I do, but as I sit here babysitting while she is at a
friend's house having coffee, and the other four little
beasties are all but killing themselves playing football, I wonder
how she does it.

SO, WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT? Well, Mom,
now you're going to get yours. Now I can tell about the
times you've run around the house in hot pants and sweatshirts.
You haven't lived until you've seen my-mother in a
sloppy old sweatshirt and hot pants, muttering to herself
as she pounds on the typewriter.
And then, there's the times in the kitchen when she so
unselfishly cans tomatoes and corn. But, we pay the price.
The phone will ring, and she'll say to the poor person on
the other end: "I can't talk now because I'm doing that
(expletive deleted) corn."(Then, she'll hand the phone to
me and it takes me a half an hour to explain to the other
person what it was all about.)
What I'm really trying to say is: In spite of all the dirty
sweatshirts, the hot pants and the pounding typewriter at
3 a.m., and the smart remarks on the phone, I wouldn't
trade my Mom for all the world.

THAT'S THE LAST TIME I will ever let one of my kids
venture their two cents in this column. She's gonna go
around with all this love and spoil my whole image.
Kids are for the birds. Just when you get to a point
where you feel they are ready to grow up and leave the
nest, they hit you with that business of "she's my mother
forever"
After all, I only signed an 18-year contract. What do
they want from me?



I hope you all enjoyed! I know I sure did when I stumbled across these in my attic!