For Mother’s Day in America, all across the nation we pay tribute to our mothers, the feminine side of our parental units.  My experience of being a mother is as individual as the stars in the sky; likewise, my experiences of having four mothers (yes, I said “four”) are as individual from anyone else’s, too.  Even from my identical twin’s.  We share the same genes, but we process the world in a different way.  Your children may be made up of your genetic material, but their experiences of “mother” will all be different depending upon their personality, their outlook on life, their experiences, and the way they process the world around them.  Kinda makes it fun, doesn’t it?  When they grow up, you wonder what memories they will hold onto and why.  As they grow, you see glimpses of how they process the world–is it positive?  Negative?  Each child is different, even identical twins.

Mothers are a wonderful gift to the world; we give to our children love, nurturance, guidance, and support while simultaneously reminding our children of the rules and repercussions of their behaviors.  We are models to our children; teachers, leaders, therapists, and coaches.  They run to us for solace, call us for advice, and come to us for their “boo-boo’s” to be kissed.  Being a mother is not a job to be taken lightly.  It is the hardest job and the most important job in the world.

Parenting isn’t easy, but it is one of the most rewarding jobs on the planet.  Mothers bring to life these amazing little beings (even if your children are adopted, they are still “brought to life” by you), but we have to be careful—they are not ours forever.  As mothers, we learn that our children are separate from us, and they separate from us so that they may become the individuals that they are (teenagers are notorious for asserting their independence).  We learn they were never ours in the first place, but we are their caretakers, raising them for the precious time we have with them, until they are ready to leave our nest and build one of their own.

Mother’s Day is a day that mothers can be appreciated for the untold work we put into our children.  Happy Mother’s Appreciation Day to all of the mothers on this day–and on all days.  Mothering is an important job, and if we do it right, if we learn from the challenges, if we love our children, if we guide them, and teach them the skills they need to become happy and healthy adults, we have done a good job.