This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

So here's what I've learned: You spend the first half of your life saying and doing stuff. Then you spend the second half of your life apologizing for what you said and did — usually to your mother.

Remember how you promised your 10-year-old self that YOU would never lose it with your own kids if they didn't put their shoes up? You made yourself that promise the night your mom tripped over all your shoes in the hallway by the bathroom. The next thing you knew she was cursing the universe and all the shoes in it because she was personally sick of tripping over them. Why couldn't people just PUT THEIR SHOES IN THE CLOSET WHERE THEY BELONG FOR A CHANGE she wondered. Loudly. That's when you vowed to yourself you'd be totally chill with your own kids and their shoes when you were a mom one day.

Easy to say. Until YOU'RE the mom and you spend the morning searching for your oldest son's shoes. Finally, you lose it. You yell. You don't even care that all the windows are open because it's summer. You yell so loud, in fact, that when you stomp over to the neighbor's house to see if your kid left his shoes there (that's how desperate you've become), your neighbor Nan opens the door and says, "His shoes aren't here," before you even open your mouth.

So then you go home and call your mother and apologize for leaving your shoes in the hallway all those years ago.

Also. Remember how you promised your 16-year-old self that if YOUR teenagers came home at 2 a.m., you'd be totally cool with it. You'd be all hey! I know how it is! Sometimes you just forget to look at the clock when you're out driving around with your friends. I know you weren't doing anything wrong. I totally trust you!

Easy to say. Until YOU'RE the mom and your teenager stays out past midnight and suddenly you're so not cool with it. You wake up your husband and hear yourself say "NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER MIDNIGHT WHEN YOU'RE 16 YEARS OLD!"

So that next morning you (bleary-eyed) call your mother and apologize for staying out after midnight when you were 16 years old.

Remember how when you were a young mother you really thought you were doing your own mother a favor whenever you dropped in on her unexpectedly and said, "Surprise! How would you like to hang out with your grandkids while I run some errands?" Well, of course you were doing her a favor! It's great to hang out with grandkids, especially ones as cute as hers. Who wouldn't want to hang out with those guys?

OK. This one never happens to me now that I'm a grandmother. My daughter-in-law makes arrangements in advance, and actually I DO like to hang out with my grandkids because they are, in fact, adorable. But I'm beginning to understand that my mother was an exceptionally good sport where I was concerned. She never made me feel like my kids and I were crashing into her life. Her really, really busy life. Which I'm sure we were.

I guess I'll have to call her up today and apologize one more time for my youthful cluelessness. While I'm at it, I'll also thank her for everything she's done and does.

And wish her a happy birthday, too.

Happy birthday, Mom.

Ann Cannon can be reached at acannon@sltrib.com or facebook.com/anncannontrib.