Eventually, it happens to every mom.
She says or does something that is so funny ... or so off the wall ... or so goofy, every family member around her just busts out in laughter. And it doesn't stop there; the story spreads; it's just too good to keep to the eyewitnesses. So at gatherings from then on, Mom's moment of hilarity (or embarrassment) is recounted until it takes on the level of family tradition, almost myth-like proportions.
Each family has one, and we asked readers to give us theirs -- the funniest thing that your mom ever did or had happen to her.
"My mother died three years ago at age 85, but one of my favorite tales about her happened just a few months before she died. Her smoke alarm started chirping in the middle of the night from a low battery. She couldn't reach it, so she got a broom and started hitting it, finally knocking it off the wall and into pieces. It was still chirping, so she tried to drown the pieces in a bowl of water. I happened to stop by that morning and she told me about her attempts to quiet the alarm, but we could both still hear faint beeping. I looked in the hallway and saw that she had actually beat her doorbell to death. Her smoke alarm was intact and still chirping. We had the best laugh over that." -- Susan Landis
"A few years ago on Mother's Day we had a cookout and all the kids were going to have a water balloon fight. I got one and threw as hard as I could at my son ... Well, my aim was a little bit off and I hit my mother in the side of the head, knocked her glasses off and her expression was priceless. And even though I was 43, I ran in the house and wouldn't come back out. It still makes everybody laugh ... except for her." -- Carolyn Russell
"My mother, Willene Wyse, is currently 89 years old. Mom could never pass up a sale. When we lived in Atlanta, Mom came home one day with 12 white mice. We were, of course, thrilled. When we asked her where she got them, she said that she bought them on sale -- they told her that if she bought one she would get 11 free." -- Jilly Wyse
"When I was small, she made homemade biscuits for the first time. They were like rocks and me and my Dad were laughing, so she threw one at him, and it hit a metal trash can and dented the side. That sent the whole family rolling on the floor." -- Chris Moffatt
"My Mom passed away several years ago. She was always a huge University of Tennessee football fan. She had three lady friends (all in their 70s) and they went somewhere together nearly every weekend. My brother had season tickets, and he would give them the tickets whenever he couldn't go. One weekend, armed with the tickets, the four of them took off to Knoxville. They were running late and pulled into their hotel, checked in and asked the desk clerk if any of the buses in the parking lot were going to the game. He said yes and pointed them to a bus, told them to go on and he would send their bags to their rooms.
"They went to the bus and got on. Pretty soon a man asked them what they were doing on the bus, and they told him they were going to the game. It turns out they were on the Wake Forest players' bus and were talking to the coach. He thought it was so cute he let them stay and ride. They ran the red lights, had a police escort, etc. They thought all that was wonderful and they really had fun. Mom was telling this story when she got home, and I said 'How did you get back to the hotel?' She said, 'Well we went back down to the locker room, got on the bus, and he took us back.'" -- Marti Brown
"We were at a school carnival and they had a hay ride. The driver of the four-wheeler just ran right into her. So the ambulance was filled with three kids, Mom and the Raisin and Raisinette stuffed dolls. Momma got ran over by a hay ride ... LOL." -- Candice Dixon
"We lived in this old house and every room had a door on it ... My Dad sat there in the living room and told me to pretend like I was talking (to someone), so I did. My mom was paranoid because beside our home was some woods and then a trailer. So my Dad snuck outside and she was in the kitchen; well, all she saw was a face looking in the window. She stood there, stomping in place, but couldn't get her feet going. When she did, you heard 'Bam!Bam!Bam!' as she was slamming every door behind her." -- Christy Mechelle Crandall Roberts
"I have one and it involves me spitting milk all into my daughter's gorgeous curly hair! The look on her face as milk is dripping from every curl was priceless. We laugh so hard every time we try to recall that incident. She still travels with me, but she wears her hair back just in case I see something funny and have milk in my mouth." -- Chris Rogerson Quick
"Loved the day my mom was hurrying to put the wine she had been drinking away and, in her haste to replace the cork, got her boob caught between the cork and the bottle! Even funnier, I have done it myself ... like mother, like daughter. LOL." -- Debbie Waldenmyer Smith
"Oh lord, I can't pick just one." -- Michelle N. Tooter Powers
"My then-boyfriend (now husband) took a snapshot of Mom eating a banana. Oh, she was furious about it! It was hilarious!" -- Susan Renee
"A story comes to mind not of something my mom once did, but rather something she said. I was at her house one Christmas and my young son was opening up a race track I had bought for him called the Devastator. My mother, with her quintessential Southern twang, proclaimed, "Look, Tristan, it's the De-VAST-e-ate-or!' My siblings and I got quite the laugh." -- Jessica Hunter
"In the '80s, my mother used to have a handle on an old CB radio. It was "Sweetlips" after her favorite brand of lip balm. She would talk with truckers and people all the time. We were having a rather serious moment before the prayer for Thanksgiving dinner. It was quiet. My mother, a minister, was trying to gather her thoughts. So I took advantage of the situation and said, "Go for it, Sweetlips!" Apparently, that was what was needed to break the silence. Everyone just broke out laughing. It had to have lasted more than five minutes. We still get a healthy laugh when thinking about it." -- Patrick Moore
"My mom was trying to call one of my aunts but called the wrong aunt without realizing it, of course. My uncle picks up the phone and, of course, says "Hello." My mom asks, "Is your grandmother home?," thinking it was one of the older grandkids. My uncle was like, "I hope not!" and by then she realizes she called the wrong number and is laughing so much she hangs up on him. I was right next to her when she did it, and we still have a good laugh over it till this day." -- Hollie Moore
"This happened years ago to my mother-in-law (Dorothy Petty) and son (Dustin) on Mother's Day. ... There was a rabbit in her garden eating her plants, so she wanted Dustin to come and take care of the rabbit. Well, we live in the country, so Dustin slipped on his big rubber boots and coat and got his gun. One of the neighbors called the police, saying someone had a gun. Here came this police officer, walking up the drive with a gun. Dorothy had to explain what was going on, and he got tickled after he saw the way my son was dressed ... I thought it was the best Mother's Day laugh any mom could have." -- Denise Petty
"It wasn't funny at the time, but when I was younger she took us to Lake Winnie. We had a great day 'til she ran over one of the ducks when we were leaving. We still tease her about it." -- Keasha Bradley
"Candi ... Missy ... Thomas ... nobody told on me?" -- Frances Davidson