A New Perspective of Mothers Day

The role of "Mother" continually challenges me as I bend and mold into the mother that I want to be for my boys. There are about a million times so far in my adult life that I have paused for a second and thought, "My mother is pretty amazing."  In about the first 30 minutes of a visit my mom will have already unloaded the dishwasher, re-loaded the dish washer, swept the kitchen floor, wiped down the counters, washed a load of clothes, started a shopping list. She is a whirlwind. My mother can clean my entire house, feed and play with my children, encourage me and still have time to go the grocery store all in one day. I use to be unfazed by what is clearly her "super mom" mode. I use to take it for granted and say things like, "but you didn't wash my favorite jeans, you know the ones that were under two sweatshirts and a jacket in the very bottom of my closet." I use to be somewhat embarrassed when she took time out of her busy day to drop me off and pick me up from school. I even use to complain that she asked me so many questions about my friends, my whereabouts, and my schoolwork. Now the thing that embarrasses me the most is my unappreciation.

Being a mom is truly the best and most difficult job I will ever work at. The other day one of our Youth Group kids asked me, " is being a mom really all that hard of work?" My quick response was an emphatic yes. "Why? What do you have to do?" the girl responded. My answer - Everything. A mom does everything. I'm not saying that the dad does nothing. That's not the case and is especially not the case at our house. My husband is a terrific and extremely helpful hands-on kind of dad.  A child, however,  needs everything and cannot do anything on his or her own. As I stay at home with boys and watch them growing up and changing I see just how dependent they are on me and how slowly but surely they need me a little less everyday. Someday they'll think that they don't need me at all, and then when they're grown men they'll need me again for something, a recipe they use to like, an opinion on something I know about, or even just a hug and kiss, but they'll always need me. That's the best kind of job security.

One thing that I think about often is whether or not I'm being a good mom, or what that phrase even means, a "good mom". I love my kids. I love them so much that sometimes I just walk over, pick them up, squeeze them, kiss all over their faces, and tell them over and over how much they are loved. I love the Lord and work at teaching them about God and all that he's done for us. I pray for my boys everyday, for them to love God like I do, for them to know Him and understand His love. We don't have lots of money, but we get by and I hope that someday my boys will think that the time I gave them was worth more than anything I could ever have bought for them if we'd had more money from me working.

When I was kid I thought that everyday was mother's day. My mom told me what to do and that made everyday a special day for her. Now I realize it's just the opposite. Telling your kids what to do it hard work. Before I tell Joshua not to do something I've already worried about him getting hurt, weighed and measured the outcome of each possibility and come to the decision I think is best for him, and still at the end of the day I sometimes lay awake praying that I'm telling him the right things. It can be exhausting. I now see Mothers Day in a completely different light. I look forward to giving my mother a present, choosing a card for her and telling her what she means to me. In fact I try to tell her as often as I can, just how much I appreciate her and  the sacrifices she made for me. I tell my husband all the time that I just want to be the kind of mom for my kids that my mom was for me, because I think she was and still is the best. Already today she's told me she loves me, loves my boys, thinks I'm doing a great job as a mom and wife, and is proud of me. She's more than a mom, she's my cheerleader and my friend.

My Mother with My Boys