Thank You for Making Me a Mom

As I sit and reflect this evening on everything Mother's Day is to me, I felt inspired to write. (I haven't been writing as much as I'd like to and hopefully this can get me back in the swing of things). While I loved being lazy and sleeping in, and even taking a nap, Mother's Day is about so much more than just ME...

To my mom,

Thank you for making me a mom. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for pushing me to my limits countless times and being there for me no matter the outcome. Thank you for being my mom and not my friend when I was younger; I needed that structure because it helped shape me into the person I am today. Thank you for everything, as cliché as that sounds. As I sit and take care of Caitlin, I often stop and think "Wow, my mom did this for me 30 years ago" and I take in that beauty of the perspective all-too-often forgotten about. It's breathtaking, actually. Your world stopped when I was born and I just wanted to grow up and be free. Now I know the simultaneous sting and all-consuming love that you had for me, as I feel it for Caitlin every single day. I love you.

To my Mother (and Father!)-in-Law,

Thank you for raising the man of my dreams. Thank you for bringing David up in a home full of love and respect for women, as he now treats our home the same way. Thank you for parenting him so that he has values and ideals of what it means to him to be a great dad and looks forward to Caitlin growing up and sharing memories with her that he shares with you, his own mom. Thank you for being my own second mom and understanding my stressed out, Type-A, “teacher personality.” Thank you for often being the voice of reason when I get flustered. I love you.

To my husband,

I don’t care if it’s Mother’s Day, thank you for being an amazing daddy. Caitlin is so, so lucky. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fulfill one of my dreams, to be a mom. Your devotion to our family is profound and never goes unnoticed, I promise. Thank you for providing for our family in such a way that I am blessed enough to stay home with our little girl; a role that, while harder than I ever imagined, is one I feel destined and beyond lucky to do. You have given that to me. I love you.

To my sweet baby girl,

Thank you for being you. For your smiles, your giggles, your soft skin, and milky baby breath. Thank you for making me a mommy. YOUR mommy. My, how lucky am I? It hasn’t always been easy. This is my second Mother’s Day, but in fact it feels like my first. My first Mother’s Day you were only a couple weeks old and I was a tired, emotional, post-partum hormonal mess. It flew by. You pooped all over your “I love mommy” onesie which I was certain was a sentiment as to how you felt about me. We took a while to figure one another out. Thank you, though. Those sleepless nights? They taught me patience. Those moments of “what do we do now?” brought your daddy and I even closer, united in a common goal. Those hours in the nursery learning how to nurse taught me fortitude. Your smiles, laughter, and milestones taught me a love that I have never, ever experienced before. I love you.

You see friends, Mother’s Day isn’t just about me. I didn’t get here alone. Thank you so much to all my pillars of support, my community who celebrates with me and is also there when I cry, and everyone who helped make me a mother. Thank you. I LOVE YOU.

Happy Mother’s Day!

xoxo