A Mother’s DayS

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A Mothers DayS

Mother’s Day- another day filled with hype: flowers, cards, brunch.   I always struggle with this DAY.  It’s not a day that defines me, it’s the days.  Sure there was a moment in time when I became a mom, but that moment isn’t what made me a mom.  

It was the late night feedings and diaper changes that made me a mom.  It is the weary mornings and late nights that I celebrate.  Birthdays and sick days and all the in-between days mold me as a mom.  Building forts and tearing them down, define me as a mom.   Smiles and giggles and tears and screams shape my momma ears to hear. Trials and triumphs cast my heart.  Skinned knees and bandaids, bathtubs filled with bubbles, and shirts stained with popsicles assembled and designed my momma heart and moved my momma hands.  It’s not at all about THIS day, it’s about all the DAYS that have been and all the days that will be.  It’s the good, the bad, and the ugly all mixed up that make me a mom.  From the moments (many) I regret to the moments I cherish all these days make me a mother.  It’s not about the title or the role, it’s about the relationship.  

Though we mark today “Mother’s Day,” I’m claiming all the days that make me the mom I am today.  I’m celebrating the days I make dinner when it’s the last thing I want to do.  I’ll observe the loads of laundry and dirty dishes, because those days should be celebrated too.  I’ll even toast to the talking back and commemorate the arguments cause it’s these that all make me a mom too!

Today I’m called mom because of the four beautiful children who’ve afforded me that title, but I wouldn’t be the mom I am today without the legacy of women who’ve paved the way.  Among those women is my own momma who had/has all the “Mothers Days” that shaped her therefore shaping me.  It’s my husbands mom who raised him, it’s grandmothers and godmothers a lineage of moms who’ve shown me the way.  To all my fellow lllow military mommas who’ve joined my village and stepped in days I still had to be a mom and didn’t feel like it.  To all the women who’ve prayed for me, my kids, and my family...

Thank you!  Happy Mother’s DayS: all of them! 

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