Mother’s Day is here again, but this year it comes with special significance for me.
My husband and I are expecting our first child ‘a girl if ultrasounds are to be trusted? at the end of August. And while I’ve always appreciated my mother in that obligatory ‘thanks for being my mom, and oh, what’s for dinner?? kind of way before, I really appreciate her now.
A hallmark of a good parent seems to be the way parenting is made to seem effortless. And the thing about being a parent is, it’s anything but effortless. I mean, my child isn’t even born yet and she’s already reduced me to tears, strained my wallet and tried my patience. I can’t imagine how I’ll get through this whole ‘mom? thing once she’s out of my belly.
Despite whatever shortcomings I may have as an adult, my mother did a great job raising my brother and me. Both of my parents did, really’but this is Mother’s Day, so Dad, just know I love you, too. And while when I was growing up I often said, ‘I’ll never do that when I’m a parent,? now that the reality of that situation is looming larger than my abdomen, all I can think about is how to do things almost exactly as my parents did.
My mother found a way to walk the fine line between letting us run wild and keeping us under lock and key? allowing us enough freedom to get into some good-natured trouble, but never the kind of ‘fun? that ends with someone losing an eye. Perhaps most importantly, she taught us to respect other people, animals, the environment and ourselves.
And while I hesitate to turn this column into something akin to a Hallmark card, I would be remiss if I didn’t say I am still in awe of the way Mom somehow found a way to be a friend and a parent, a mother and a mentor, a shoulder to cry on and a disciplinarian. She was the first person to gently correct me if I’d made a bad choice, and the last one left standing when it seemed the rest of the world turned a cold shoulder. All of that, and she still found time to make dinner and do a few loads of laundry. Not too shabby, eh?
When I was a kid, I didn’t always recognize that stuff or how difficult it must all be. Now that I’m about to try and raise a kid, I do. And I’m so thankful for it.
So to you, local mothers, on behalf of all children who may have at one time or another seemed a bit ungrateful: Thank you. Thank you for the waffles and the wishes, the clean socks and the sand castles, the trips to the zoo and the rides to school.
For the sleepless nights and the far-too-early mornings, the times you laughed with us or prayed for us, and for never letting us know what little pains in the butt we must have been: Thanks, Moms. Especially mine.