Mothers Day story for the heart...

When I was a child, my mother did not like Mother’s Day. I could not understand this at all. It was a day all about her. It was like a birthday, she gets to be the center of attention. How could that be something she did not like?

Years later, I think I began to understand. One year in particular stands out in my mind. I was the young mother of 4 young children. A 4 year old, 2 year old twins, and a 5 month old. The baby had been sick with a few serious illnesses, and all of them had been sick with minor illnesses one after another for about 4 months. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, my husband traveled for work 4 days a week.

I was overwhelmed, overworked, stressed, underappreciated, and not getting enough sleep. I was just trying to survive one day to the next.

Mother’s day came that year. At church I heard talks that honored their mothers, beautiful tributes given to motherhood. In particular there was a gentleman who mentioned in his talk that his mother never raised her voice to her children. I sunk down in my seat and hid my head. I hoped no-one noticed me, I just wanted to disappear. I had raised my voice to my children that very morning getting ready for church. I was a failure as a good mom. I was not perfect, thus I did not deserve any praise or recognition for my labors.

Now I begin to realize why my mom might not like Mother’s Day. She raised 8 kids. I’ll bet she was often overwhelmed, overworked, stressed, underappreciated, and not getting enough sleep. I’ll bet that she felt that at times she did not measure-up either.

None of us are perfect. But sometimes we feel that other people are closer to perfection than we are. We will all fall short of perfection in one way or another. The important thing is that we keep trying. I liken it to a busy house full of children. We rarely achieve a perfectly clean house, but it is important that we keep trying. It’s the daily struggle to be better than you were the day before that we need to achieve. Aim for the stars and maybe you’ll reach the trees. But that is better than aiming for the trees and hitting the dirt.

A woman I admire very much, Elaine S. Dalton, has a motto inscribed on a plate in her office. It reads, “I can do hard things.” This is a motto for all people, in all walks of life. It is a motto I want to teach my children. When we accomplish doing something hard, we gain self-esteem and strength. We should not make things so easy that our children gain no self-esteem. Sometimes it is hard watching someone struggle through hard times, but it is then that they grow. We can all do hard things.

Today I want to honor all the “less-than-perfect-but-still-trying” Mothers. That should be everyone, unless you’ve given up.
I want to honor all the mothers who don’t get enough sleep, so they may be a bit irritable. That’s okay, you are still wonderful.
I want to honor all those who lost their temper the 4th time they ask their children to do something. Hey, they were patient the first 3 times right?
I want to honor all the mothers who put themselves in time-out. You are being a good example to your children, and it is amazing how well you can calm yourself down when you are by yourself somewhere quiet. (You can stay in time-out longer than 5 minutes too, if you like.)
I want to honor all those who do 10 times more work than they ever imagined, and feel very little thanks.
I want to honor all the mothers of young kids, who shut the door to go to the bathroom for 5 minutes of privacy, even though their toddler is on the other side trying to beat the door down because they can’t stand to be separated.
I want to honor all the mothers who have learned patience, by being pushed past their limit . . . repeatedly.
I want to honor all of those who have “just cleaned this room.”
I want to honor all those whose pile of dishes is only rivaled by the mountain of laundry.
I want to honor all the mothers who have spent an hour making dinner, and no one likes it, and they let you know that they don’t like it, loudly.
I want to honor all the mothers whose mouths are sore from biting their tongue so much.
I want to honor all those who have ever had to clean-up throw-up. Ever. Even better, I honor those who cover the throw-up with a towel in the middle of the night to be cleaned up in the morning.
I want to honor all of you who, no matter what you say or do, it’s the wrong thing.
I honor those who take time out for themselves. It is very hard to take care of others when your own needs are pressing.
I honor those who spend more time in their car than anywhere else.
I honor those of you who are overwhelmed, overworked, stressed, underappreciated, and not getting enough sleep
I honor those of you who have gotten a call from the principal. Again.
I especially want to honor all those mothers who have spent hours on their knees in prayer, pleading for help and guidance in their roles as mothers.
And finally, I honor all those mothers who are doing their best It never seems to be enough, but it’s all you’ve got anyway.

I want to publicly thank my mom. She was not perfect. She did her best, and it was just enough for us. We learned a little independence, co-operation (eventually), we learned to work, and we learned how to love unconditionally. That was even better than a perfect mom.
Thank-you and Happy Mother’s Day.