My mom, Tarzan

Everybody is your sister, brother, aunt, or uncle in Chinese culture. A few weeks ago, one of my "sisters" arrived from China.

She's the daughter of my mom's best friend from childhood. We had her over for a couple dinner parties and my mom got all excited. She told us tons of stories from when she was little.

Apparently...my mom was a biiiig tomboy. And this is a woman who's a Chinese literature major turned accountant whose lifelong dream was to become an anchorwoman.  Not that thrill-seeking.

She told us that she and the girl's mom were super-close when they were little. They used to have "swing" - it was a tiny plank of wood hanging from a tall tree, which would have broken all the safety regulations today.

My mom (who was tiny!) would sit down and her best friend would put her legs around my mom's waist and stand. And they would swiiing...till they almost fell off.

Sometimes when my mom was left at home to be babysat. Her friend would climb the tree to my mom's room.  She pulled my mom out of her room through the window and they would jump out of the window. Once they were free, they would play outside the whole day like monkeys.

After they were done, my mom climbed the tree back through the window into her room!

My mom points zealously at her many freckles. "These," she says proudly, "are from too many fun afternoons in the hot sun."  It's true.  She has tons of freckles.

It was all rather surprising for me to discover this since it came from my mom, someone who doesn't let me or my brother get into any kind trouble at all - like any good mother.

The moral of the story: never judge a book by its cover...even if it's your mom.