No Regrets



Mother's Day is 
Every Day!!!

Here we go again. Time to watch our once a year celebration commercialized with the advertising of jewelry and flowers. In all the years I’ve been a mother, I’ve never received jewelry or flowers. Well wait a minute – I think I did receive a necklace one year. Hmmm…where is that necklace? I think it was a heart-shaped locket! Another year, I didn’t get anything, and I remember the year they took me to brunch and I had to cook dinner later that evening. 

Of course all those celebrations were spearheaded by my husband – I appreciate his efforts, but the one present my husband gave me that I will forever be grateful for is his sperm. Sounds gross, but that sperm gave me two sons and the gift of motherhood - my greatest joy and my biggest challenge. I’m two years short of an empty nest, and it went by like a blur, but I enjoyed all of it – the challenges, the tears, the joy, the fatigue, the frustrations, the dirty diapers, the broken curfews, and even the tree in the backyard they think is full of money - children are expensive! 

My younger sister and I had a long conversation about mothering and we came to the conclusion that the only way to mother without regrets is to do our part to the best of our ability. There is no right way or wrong way. There is no perfect mothering style and no perfect child to raise. There is no secret potion to keep them out of trouble, and no words to keep them pure. They’ll lie to us, somehow embarrass us, and maybe act like they were raised in the wilderness, but as long as we do our part and mother to the best of our ability, there will be no regrets because our best is all we can do. 

Mother’s Day may come once a year, but we know it’s a 24/7 job, so celebrate and encourage yourself every day! Happy Mother’s Day!