Happy Mother’s Day
Dear Mom,
Today is Mother’s Day, and, just like birthdays, I never really understood how special a day it was until I had my own kids. It’s not about breakfast in bed or preschool craft projects or a card Dad bought and I just wrote my name on because I was too busy planning how to best get into trouble with my friends to remember which Sunday in May was supposed to be for you. It’s about saying how much I appreciate everything you did for me.
Thank you for all the homemade cookies and for never telling me I probably shouldn’t eat another one because I needed to be thin to make people like me.
Thank you for reading to me and for doing funny voices when we read The Hobbit. You were a better Gollum than that guy in the movie ever was.
Thank you for being so strict, because without your rules and boundaries I might have grown up too fast.
Thank you for telling me it was OK to change my mind if I didn’t want to be a marine biologist anymore after I went to college, because Holy Cow did I NOT want to be a marine biologist anymore after I went to college and it was such a relief to switch majors without worrying you’d be mad.
Thank you for showing me what a good marriage looks like – it’s amazing you and Dad are still so strong even though you got married at 22.
Thank you for being excited when I told you I was engaged, even though I was only 22.
Thank you for totally agreeing with me on every detail of my wedding and for laughing at mother-daughter pairs who fought over things like flower arrangements and plated appetizers.
Thank you for coming to help when I had my babies – I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you.
Thank you for being an amazing grandmother to Evan and Caroline and for always respecting my parenting choices.
I’m sorry for all the times I made you worry, the times I yelled at you, the screaming and crying and throwing myself on the floor (both as a toddler AND as an over-dramatic teenager), the broken curfews, the secrets I tried to keep, and that time I stopped speaking to you (even though I don’t think you even knew about it). I had to be a mom to understand how much your children can hurt you and how much it means to hear them say they didn’t mean to.
Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being my mom.
Love, Your Daughter,
Suzanne
Tags: family, mom, mommy, mother's day, motherhood, things I love
so sweet:) Happy Mother’s Day to you Suzanne!
Aww, I hope your mom reads this – such a sweet post!
Happy Mother’s Day to you!
This made my cry – mainly because my children (thanks to their Dad) have never made much of Mother’s Day and I sometimes find myself wondering if having a mom even matters to them or if I’m just the person that squashes all the fun they could be having. My mom died before I grew up enough to give her the respect she deserved. I hope I’ve been a good enough mom that when they grow up, they do remember and can start to understand why we do things. I think you have to be a good mom though to have kids who are able to recognize and acknowledge things like you wrote today. So congrats to your mom and give thanks yourself – you’re following in her footsteps.
Beautiful. :] Happy Mother’s Day to you!
OMG…I’m weeping…
Thank you for the lovely post. You are a wonderful daughter and I love, and have always loved, being your Mom!
Aw, even my cold black mother’s day hating heart just shed a tear. This is the only one of the posts I have read like this that hasn’t made me want to punch someone in the face. Happy Mother’s Day to you and your mama. She is awesome to have raised a daughter like you.
Lovely… just lovely.
This is so very sweet, Happy Mother’s Day, Suzanne! To you & your mama! :)
I cried even more when I read your mom’s comment. Happy Mother’s Day to you and your mom :)
Add me to the list of people sobbing after reading this! What a sweet beautiful post!
oh man, your last paragraph? the apologies? genius. awesome post.
Best Mother’s Day post I’ve read! Hope you had a fantastic day!