Because of Mom, I am Mommy

I am the kind of Mom who recognizes the importance of family dinners. I'll put plates in the oven if you can't make it, but if it's possible, we'll all just wait. The Mom who includes kids in the conversation never mind their age or interest level.

I'm the Mom who tries not to get touched-out, who realizes this is my decade to stroke baby thighs and lay in bed feeling rhythmic, humid, toddler breath on my neck and chest. I'm the mom who can't think of anything better than a king-sized bed with three loved ones side-by-side sleeping late into the morning.

I will be the Mom who will side with her kids at the risk of belligerence on the sides soccer fields and in the bleachers at basketball courts. I'll be the Mom who lets her kids decide what activity and how much cause I don't care if it's dance or football or reading if that's where their heart is I will be thrilled.

Vacations are crucial for weaving the memory quilt of our family and I am the Mom who knows it. I also know that a driving get-away to Toledo can produce as many warm-fuzzies as a trip to the beach can and it is all in how you approach it. I'm the Mom who'll hang banners over the breakfast table if a birthday falls on a school day. And, holidays? Forget it--I am the Mom who will coax the magic out of every last one of them!

I am the Mom who will always answer the phone and have time to talk. I am the Mom who will put things in perspective and always, ALWAYS, leave my grown-up baby feeling a little less afraid after we hang-up. I am the Mom who will still let my grown child sleep in my bed, because sometimes that is the only way to feel safe.

I am the Mom who knows how to laugh and is never embarrassed that my laugh is the loudest in the room. My kids are encouraged by my rolling Mom-laugh and will ham it up just for me. I am the rare Mom that is a friend and a parent without sacrificing any duty of one role for the sake of the other.

I am the Mom who has a life. I realize my kids will also have a life apart from our family and I know that their Mom needs to do the same.

I am the Mom who loves her husband and the father of her kids. I know that everything he does is done with his family in mind and I couldn't have married a better father. I am the Mom who can see her husband through her child's eyes and never forget how important that relationship is.

This is my Mom, and I hope, someday, it will be me.







Love you, Mommy. Happy Mother's Day!