Happy Mother's Day

Unlike most daughters my age, I aim to be pretty much just like my mom. She knows what's important. So many of us focus on things that we have decided will make us happy, or avoid things we think won't, and she slides through somehow knowing it's all small stuff. She's independent, funny, classy and yet goofy, and inexplicably content. The woman never has a bad day; it drives me crazy.
It's funny how most of us pass up a peer-stage with parents, and move straight on to the more parental guarding, guiding and judging stage. We know what they should do, how they should act, and when they're ready for new things. I definitely do this with mom, but she usually throws me for a loop, and makes me think I couldn't dream of being a step ahead of her. Sometimes she's 'set in her ways' as they say-unable or unwilling to see that something may have come along that could change things for the better. I explain it to her in a way I hope doesn't sound condescending, and she gets a light in her eyes that tells you not only that she gets it, but that she understands every aspect of it-ones you don't even understand-the chemistry or physics behind it that makes you think she could've invented it herself. Other times she comes home with ideas or things I didn't even think she knew existed (a Nintendo DS comes to mind).
I think of myself as worldly and know that I don't really NEED help with anything-there are a lot of things I've done by myself (plumbing, electrical work, car maintenance, etc.) that I never thought I could do alone-but I find myself asking her everyday questions, ones I know a mother will be able to tell her daughter; and wonder how other people figure stuff out. Like what's the difference between poaching and boiling? Do grown-up bees eat honey? What's better- a CD or a mutual fund? I think I just don't want to take for granted this wealth of knowledge from an infinitely forgiving and friendly place. Why look it up on Wikipedia when you can make someone happy by asking them to share their expertise? That, and Wiki wouldn't know that my grade-school secretary/nurse/den mother's name was Ms. Schnoebelen (strike of pure genius, remembering that one). There are other times, though (what's this Hoo-Hah stuff?), when she looks to me, and then I feel like I'm on my way to being able to pass this oral exam of life.