Setting the Standard

Happy belated Mother's Day. Truth be told, I don't really see Mother's Day as being a big deal. I think part of it stems from that fact that I still find it hard to believe that I am a mommy. My mother is a mommy, my grandmothers are mommies. Me, I am a 25 year old (yeah, right) playing house.

It is sort of like when I was eight and I would look at my camp counselors in awe - they looked so grown up and glamorous (I think it was the excessive amounts of hairspray and makeup). Meanwhile they were likely in their late teens. And yet at almost 32 I still have a feeling they were older in the late 80s than I am now.

My mother became a mom at 22. I am pretty sure that I would not have been able to balance work/life/motherhood/etc. at 22 as well as my mother did. Between caring for me and my brother full-time, working part-time, and managing a million other things, she still had time to decorate funky clothing for me (from tie-dying sweatshirts to creating tres chic hair clips) and juggle multiple other responsibilities. Did I mention that she went back to school for both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees while I was in elementary school? I will be lucky to finish my MBA before LP graduates college!

I guess what it comes down to is that Mother's Day is not and should not be just once a year. Everyday when I am trying to entertain LP, prepare dinner, and keep myself from falling over, I appreciate my mom. I appreciate how hard she worked to make sure I could be in this position. I appreciate how she sometimes made it look easy and how sometimes she didn't (because otherwise I would really wonder if I am a mom). I appreciate that she (and my dad) STILL buys me clothing and other items "just because." And I most definitely appreciate how she loves me and my little family.

As for me, I don't need a day set aside to be appreciated. I feel appreciated by the Hoos and LP (and hopefully Bun, who is resting nicely ON MY BLADDER) every day.