In honor of Mother’s Day. . .

I figure it’s a good time to discuss a mom related topic. Turns out I have a lot of mom’s in my life and, it also turns out that I’m going to be a mom in about three months. So this topic in particular, I may just be able to consider myself an actual expert on someday.

People often say that being a mom is the toughest job in the world and you won’t find me disagreeing. I feel the same about moms whether they stay at home or work full time, either way they work and they work hard. Yes there are some women who are very divided on the topic. Those that work full-time often look down upon those who stay home and vice versa but I say get over it ladies. We all do what we have to do and we don’t always necessarily get to choose our path. After all, “direction, not desire, determines destination.”

No matter what path of motherhood life has in store for you, it is my belief that you grab it by the horns and give it all you’ve got. You be the best mom that you can be in your situation and you simply allow other moms to do the same without judgement. I guess there are some people who may look back on their childhood and wish that their mom had been around more. My mom had an amazing, successful marketing career that she worked extremeley hard at and certainly excelled at. And when I look back at my childhood I have memories of jumping on her bed when she got home from work so we could have “tickle torture time,” which, although it may sound dangerous, was my mom tickeling us until we were in uncontrollable fits of laughter.

I remember home cooked meals every night and eating together at the kitchen table. I remember her teaching us how to cook those meals so that we could grow up and know how to cook for our own families someday.

I remember her sewing Halloween costumes for us every year and her cheering us on when we put on roller-skating routines in our garage or our basement.

I remember her taking a picture every year on the first day of school and I remember her making it out of work on time to watch our volleyball, basketball and softball games.

I remember going to Stein’s Garden and Gifts every year so she could pick out that season’s flowers and plants and her letting us each pick out one kind of flower that we got to plant in her garden.

I remember getting a special Christmas ornament every year that symbolized a milestone we had reached the previous year. And every year when we decorated our tree, we got to look back at all the special notes she had written to us for each specific ornament.

My list could go on and on and on, but the point is my mom had a great career and despite that and being a single parent for part of my childhood, she was still an absolutely amazing mom. When I look back on my childhood with her I don’t wish for anything different at all. In fact, when I look back at my childhood right now, what I wish and hope for is that I can be that kind of mother some day. Whether I be a stay-at-home mom or I work out of the house, I hope that I am able to find as much balance, to provide as much support, to give as much guidance and to be able to love as unconditionaly.

Today my mom is one of my best friends and what an accomplishment that must be as a mother. To guide your children through childhood, to weather the storm with them through the teenage years, to let them figure out their own path through college, to wait as they make their way through the early stages of adulthood and to do all of that so successfully that your relationship with them stands at it’s strongest point where you can truly be mother and child at the same time that you are best friends – simply because you have literally gone through everything together. The journey has deepend love, strengthened trust, earned respect and created an unbreakable relationship.

Today, and every day, I am truly grateful for my Mom and will be proud to ask her for her advice as I begin my own journey of motherhood.

 “Direction, not desire, determines destination.”