Saturday, May 7, 2011

On Mother's Day

I know nobody is perfect, but we all do our best don't we? Sometimes our best is extraordinary and noteworthy, and sometimes our best is managing to get everyone fed and that is it. Our Mothers, I think, are not truly appreciated until we ourselves have children. Kids don't notice that you give them the best berries from the basket, or the last bit of milk, or that the last sip from the water bottle when you are out. They don't know how sometimes it is hard to pay for a great daycare, though you manage - somehow. It is just not in them. They are, for the most part - ungrateful - and that is ok, cause if they were cognizant of all that mom does on a minute to minute basis they would all need therapy by age 5. So, I guess you just don't know till you are a mom yourself.

So on Mother's day I have a lot of mother's to think about.

My mom: is awesome. At 18 she decided that she could do it. That she could be a mother - and a great one. She made a home for us, that was filled with love, adventure and fun. We were always making things, playing outside, dreaming. She inspires me daily, and I strive to be like her - with my own kids.

She always made us the best halloween costumes, and encouraged us to build gnome homes in the snow. She also indulged our fashion sense and made us the formal dresses and fancy attire we desired. She also made us cabbage patch dolls, because the real ones were too expensive. We were ungrateful wretches! I look at that now and see all the time she put into those and it makes me weep.

My mom has taught me a lot of things, like drawing the sparkle in an eye, how to make french toast, the basics of sewing. She also taught me how to look at people, and that everyone is equal. She is a light, and everyone she knows sees it. When I visit her at work - I know. She is an easy person to love.

She made my world (with my dad of course) and it seemed easy - though I am sure it wasn't always.

My Auntie Cie. I remember snuggling with, and swinging in her colourful skirts. She always has a whimsy about her. She collect(ed) music boxes and trinkets, and always had candy on the table in a pot. I never felt unwelcome in her home. She was my go to - when I needed another place to go. She has always been there for me, and I have been happy to stand in as an honorary kid.

Oma, the grand Matriarch of our family - the glue - the amazing glue. I hope to have 1/2 the strength this woman possesses. She is full of stories, and love and yummy, yummy baking. A sounding board for all the grandkids, another place to be when others may be too prickly. Another door always open with a cup of tea.

All the women in my family (there a lot of us). You are beautiful and strong. And I like that I like you not just cause we are family. This journey of motherhood has been shared by several of us now, and I am amazed at how easily it comes to you all, and glad.


My mother-in-law, who is lovable, quirky and funny, and did her very best with almost nothing with two very busy boys. By herself. That is admirable, and I can't even imagine. I often think about her on the nights when Shawn is out and I am putting both the kids to bed. Single parents - my hats off to you!

My friends. Those whom I was really young with and still hold dear, some mothers, some aunties. You know who you are. You make me laugh. You know that even if we don't talk for months that I still love you and I know it is true of you also. You have been there through heartbreak and joy, through tragedy and birth. Who would I be without you? You all inspire me to continue to be who I was even though sometimes that seems so long ago.

my NEW gal pals. Those wonderful women I have met in the past 6 years. You are my strength, my crafty friends, my shoulders - and I would do anything for you - and you me.

For these women, and so many others. I am blessed.

On the days, when I have heard the word MOM 5,974 times at varying decibles and I am really about to flip my lid, instead, I will be thankful that I am what I have always wanted to be, a mom.







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