Mothers

With Mother's Day approaching, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be a great mom. I am very lucky to have a great mom of my own, so of course I have looked to her example as my greatest one for my own mothering. I am not even close to equaling her as a mom, but some of the characteristics she has I have aspired to also have in my mothering. I am grateful for her creativity, her ability to always reach out to others and make them feel important, her desire to always learn something new and then take on that new skill with great vigor, her energy (seriously...where does that energy all come from? She doesn't even drink caffeine!), and mostly her love for me. She's an amazing woman, and I'm glad that she's my mom.

I am also very blessed to have a mother-in-law who has been a great example to me. My husband was no easy child to raise, or so I've been told, and I'm pretty sure that I'm reliving her life right now with Tony P., so that in itself deserves a lot of respect! But I've also watched her help many people in her life through the arts and through her service, and somehow still find the time to fulfill all of her other responsibilities. I'm so happy to have her as a part of my life, and am grateful for her example.

My sisters are great mothering examples to me in the way they treat their kids, the way they rally for their kids whenever they are being treated unfairly, the way they create opportunities for them to have experiences they wouldn't otherwise have. In other words, their "Mama Bear" instincts are well intact, and they use them well. They are fantastic moms - I can't think of anything else that better describes all three of them. I also have great friends who are fabulous mothers, and I look to them as my examples as well. I have friends who have experienced great trials, bigger than I could even imagine, and have somehow been able to still be the moms their kids needed them to be. I have friends who take their kids a million places to do a million different things, and still manage to make an extra meal for someone who needs it, or watch someone else's kids for them, fulfill their very time-consuming calling, and somehow still look fabulous while doing it! These women amaze me - all of them.

I am so glad to have all of these examples in my life, and as I have been reflecting on why we celebrate the fact that we are mothers, I have realized what all of these mothers have in common. No matter how difficult the lives of the mothers I know, they all love their kids, and their kids know it. They don't just know their moms love them - their moms show them every day in the way they pack their lunches for them, or pick them up from school if they feel sick, or listen to them talk about their problems. They are lucky kids, and I am lucky to know these great mothers and to try and follow their examples.

Happy Mother's Day, all you moms out there. I hope you all get a great big hug from the ones you are doing all of this for, and I hope you hug them back and let them know how much the effort really is worth it.