An Ode to Mothers

I cannot let a mother's day pass without a little post-age.

I love being a mother. I love my children. I love seeing joy, excitement, happiness, sadness and all sorts of emotions that exude from my children. I love watching Eli laugh and learn new things. I love helping Sophie learn and try to read. I love watching Jada twirl and dance whilst shaking her booty as she says "shake my booooty, shakin my boooooty". I love the mornings when they crawl in bed with me and snuggle up, or when they give me a thousand kisses before bedtime, all of which are a sneaky ploy to delay bedtime. I love our bedtime routine: prayers, one song each, thousand kisses, and:

Me: Go right to sleep...promise?

Girls: I promise mommy.

Me: I love you. Best Friends?

Girls: Always always

I look forward to everyday. It is a new opportunity to learn and grow. I am trying to cultivate the skill of patience. I struggle with that every minute of every day. I may yell too much, or be too busy trying to keep up the house, but I am TRYING to relax and let it be. No mess is important enough to trump my kids. It is a work in progress.

I love my own mom. She is an amazing woman. Hands down (aside from Nick) my best friend. Growing up, I was the only girl in my family. It was all I new, and truthfully I loved it. I was, as some might say, spoiled. My mom was always there for me. We always had and still do have a great time together and a great relationship. We enjoy each other immensely. I am so very glad I live near her. I am not sure what I'd do without her. She has a fabulous relationship with my kids. She was able to see all three of them born. That is a marvelous thing to share with your mother. It has bonded us even more than I ever thought it would, and for that I am grateful.

I love Nicks mom. She is also pretty amazing. She lives so far away, and we get to see her once or twice a year. The time we have together is very well spent. She is very good at making up for lost time. You'd be hard pressed to find a mother-in-law that loves her daughters-in-law as much as she does. That is pretty cool. She is very loving, and very nurturing.

So happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous women out there. I love you and respect and admire all of your motherliness. I constantly learn from your examples. Thank you.