Just for the moms

I think that today is the best day on the calendar. I think that mothers should be celebrated as often as possible, especially now that I am one! Mothers do way more than kiss boo-boos, pick out clothes for the day, change diapers. We are critics of TV and radio, selecting only the most appropriate things for our children to watch and listen to. We are storytellers, reading endless books with great enthusiasm. We are chefs and nutritionists, making sure that our children are getting a balanced meal as often as they are willing to NOT throw the peas onto the floor or eat the grass or dirt off of it (especially at Luke's age). We are imagineers, convincing our children that the cardboard box they are sitting in is really a cabin in the Alaskan wilderness and a bear (our dog Jake really) is coming to get them. We are heart-breakers, our own and our children's. Nothing is more difficult than having to say no, or standing my ground when Luke wants me to hold him while I am trying to cook dinner or type this email to all of my mommy friends).We are meteorologists, being certain ever day we know what the weather will do so we know how to dress our little ones. We are magicians, magically making the remote control, cell phone, laptop, etc disappear so that our babies can't break them. We are fitness instructors, leading our children through a routine of heart-pumping play and walking exercises. We are spotters, making sure that every bad fall is cushioned if we can, holding up babies by their hands as they learn to walk. We are mourners, expressing our deepest emotions for the cuts and scrapes and barely being able to hold it together for anything more serious than that (trust me, I know!!). We are coaches, teachers, pharmacists, nurses, chauffeurs, housekeepers, singers and songwriters (I make up the craziest songs about drool and poo! I should win a Grammy), peacekeepers and war-starters. I could go on and on. Don't forget that we are also wives and sisters, daughters and aunts. We as women, not just mothers, take on more roles that we can even keep up with.

We are harder on ourselves than anyone could be on us. We try hard, and then we try harder. We become angry when we forget to pack an extra outfit in the diaper bag, or our freakishly strong child tips him/herself over in their high chair (right, Amanda?). We wish that we had the time or the energy to be the sex symbol that our husbands want us to be after a day that starts at the crack of dawn and ends when the Tylenol PM kicks in. We are our worst critics, our own judge and jury. What we should be doing is celebrating our victories and letting it slide every now and then when we don't see our child bump his head, eat a bug, or stick his hands in the toilet then wipe mommy's face with a mysterious wet hand.

I love being a mother, and I love being Luke's mother. And I am good at what I do, most of the time. Sure I have meltdowns, I hand him to his daddy and proclaim my freedom and that I am officially done. I forget to change a diaper every now and then, until it's literally dragging the floor in between his legs (if it doesn't stink, I don't think about it sometimes). But I strive daily to be the best mother I can be. I pray for wisdom, strength, and an eating disorder so I can finally lose these last 10 (or 20) baby pounds. I pray for anti-gravity to take over my prodigal breasts and that they will return home.

Anyways, I say all of this to tell all of you that I love you and your "motherness". It's beautiful. And even if your spouse and children don't do it, celebrate yourself. Do it for me. Enjoy what it is that you bring to the world. You are truly, truly amazing!! I know, because I am too!!