Make Mother's Day Great

Photo courtesy of Captured Moments Photography

Being a mom is the most incredible, rewarding job any woman could ever have. Filling this position requires its workers to experience every emotion--often to extremes. Moms feel everything from the butterflies that come from a child's unexpected hug to the misery that accompanies seeing our kids struggle. I've known many moms (including my own) that dread Mother's Day.

The truth is, our children are human beings. As such, we need to know that they will never be perfect. This also means that we share their every pain. Motherhood is naturally empathetic. When my daughter falls and scrapes her leg (again!) I want nothing more than to fix it. It's for this reason that we have a healthy stock of Disney princess band-aids on hand at all times. (They seem to heal little girls' wounds faster than the regular nude variety.)

Along with feeling our kids' pain, we also feel guilt when our children make mistakes, lose their way, or struggle with any number of difficulties. In a mom's mind, the thought is always there...was it my fault? If I had spent more time with them, been a better example, not been so strict, been more strict...would things have turned out differently?

If we learn anything from our studies of silly Sci-fi movie time travel, it's that you can't change the past. It's funny, while Science Fiction is not an exact, well, science, most writers seem to agree on this concept. Even if you could zoom back in time and give yourself a re-do, nothing would change. It is what it is.

Vernon Law, an former baseball pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates and a pretty cool guy, said that "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first the lesson afterward."

Life is essentially a barrage of pretests. And if life is anything like school, the pretest is not graded like the post test. We are constantly given challenges before we have the knowledge to meet them. But the knowledge comes when we're ready for it.

Moms, I guess what I'm trying to say is, let's give ourselves a break. Let's make mistakes and look at them for the funny stories that they are. Let's stick up for ourselves against our most critical judger--our own self. Be a little more proud of what you do for those around you. When you feel guilt for things you can't change, resolve to change things as you move forward instead of dwelling on the past.

And on Mother's Day, celebrate how amazing you are by having a good attitude. Don't look at it as a reminder of your flaws and shortcomings. It's a chance to put your nose up in the air a little bit and bask in your own awesomeness.

Photo courtesy of Belinda Olsen Photography

Take advantage! Happy Mother's Day...