Alright folks, today got me digging into something personal – fixing mess-ups in letters for moms. It hit home, hard. Felt like maybe I’ve been doing this all wrong myself.
Started Simple, Then Panic
Grabbed my laptop thinking, “How bad can my letters be?” Pulled up the last few things I emailed Mom. Oh boy. Started reading, felt my face get hot. Realized a bunch of stuff immediately looked off.
First thing jumped out? The opening sucked. Like, every single one was “Hi Mom,” or “Hey Mom.” That’s it. Felt robotic, cold. Remembered that one birthday card I sent late – just “Hey Mom, Happy Bday.” Yikes. She never said anything, but dang.
Then I found that I talked way more about me than asked about her. Paragraphs on my job drama, my weekend plans… and then buried deep: “How are you?” or “Hope you’re good.” Lame. Felt selfish reading it back.
Punched myself mentally. Kept reading. Spotted the worst one. That time I was annoyed about something stupid, probably work stress leaking out. Wrote a whole rant about petty stuff, barely mentioned her. Hit ‘send’ without thinking. Realized later, cringed forever. Never brought it up again, figured she forgot. Yeah right.
And don’t even get me started on the spelling and messy handwriting sometimes. One Mother’s Day card? Looked like a chicken scribbled it after three coffees. I mean, come on.
Okay, Time to Fix This Fast
Stared at the screen. Felt bad. But whining doesn’t fix letters. Needed a plan.
- Warm Start: Next letter, opened with “Dear Mom,” and then – get this – actually mentioned something she liked. “Saw those flowers you love blooming downtown today…” Just a tiny personal hook. Felt warmer already.
- Flip the Script: Made a rule. Ask her something specific BEFORE dumping my own stuff. “How’s the garden club going? Did Mrs. Henderson finally grow those prize-winning tomatoes?” Then, and only then, talked about my own mess.
- Kill the Grump: Seriously, dumped the negativity. If I’m in a bad mood? I jot it down elsewhere first. Letter to Mom gets the cleaned-up, grump-filtered version. Saved the rant for my journal. Much safer.
- Proofread Like Crazy: Sounds obvious, right? But now, I read it out loud before sending ANYTHING. Catches the weird sentences, the typos. Takes two extra minutes. Big difference. Or, if handwriting, I grab a fresh piece of paper if it looks messy AF halfway through. No shame.
So Did It Work?
Tried these tweaks on a quick note last week after that realization slap. Kept it short. Warm opener, asked about her book club, shared one small happy thing, signed off with actual love.
Her reply? “Got your lovely note! Book club was chaos, Mrs. Henderson DID grow the tomatoes, they tasted terrible! 😂 So nice to hear about your project…” She sounded… lighter. Happier.
Point is, moms notice the little stuff we brush off. Making those tiny shifts in our letters? Takes barely any extra time. Trims the bad stuff fast. Leaves the good. And hell, if I can stop sending my mom grumpy chicken scratch, anyone can.
