I'm the mom to a dozen. As you can imagine, raising a dozen kids could be chaotic at times, with little boys zooming through the kitchen while older sister was baking cookies and another sibling was practicing piano, ignoring the cries of the baby and the barking dog that could not stand the fact that the furnace oil deliveryman was on our front porch. One of the older kids would do her darndest to get my attention: "Mom. Mom! MOM! Mommy. Mama!" My thoughts were on what to make for supper, or how I was going to teach that lesson to my kids, or whether or not the horse was fed or the barn was mucked out.
One of the kids saw a video on Family Guy, where Stewie incessantly pestered his mom, Lois, standing beside her bed and saying, "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mama, mama, mama..." and finally, Lois! She hollered, "WHAT?" It is hilarious!
Thereafter, the kids would call me by starting with "Mom". Then, "Mom, mom, mom, mommy, mommy, mommy, Ma, Ma, Ma..." until they got exasperated. Then it was "LOIS!"
The problem is, I answered EVERY TIME!
This, of course, made them do it all the more. As soon as I don't respond, they call, "Lois!", and I answer "What?"
It's a running joke in our family. But I don't mind at all. I view it as a term of endearment. No matter how old I get, my kids will tease me, because they love me. If I don't answer to "Mom", they'll call out "Lois!", and I'll come running. Because I love them.
The verse that mentions Lois in the Bible also warms my heart. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ~(2 Timothy 1:5 ESV)
This is my desire: to demonstrate to those I love a SINCERE FAITH.