Happy Mother's Day

Growing up, I had the kind of mom that made my friends always say things like, "You have the best mom." And I did. And I still do. My mom and I have always just clicked; even as a teenager, I never went through one of those angst-filled I can't stand my mom! stages. Today, she's still the person I call when Macey has a fever; when Camden says something ridiculously sweet; when I'm wandering aimlessly through the grocery store looking for a particular ingredient; when I've been up all night and feel like I might not ever sleep again; when Macey meets a new milestone; when Camden challenges me; when I need to know what temperature to set the oven on to cook [insert random meal here]; when I absolutely must recount how fantastic my kids are; and sometimes, when I just need to hear her voice. I'm lucky. I know it and I've never, not even for a day, taken it for granted.

When you're the product of a fantastic mother, it sets the bar really high when you become a mother yourself. I work every day to ensure that, 25 years from now, I'll be the one Camden calls when he's ready to propose to his girlfriend. I love my kids the best way I know how-- the way I was (and am)loved-- so that Macey will want to call me a millisecond after she sees that second line on a home pregnancy test (sure, she can share the news with her husband first-- I just request to be the second call).

This job I'm doing now? The one that is 'round the clock, 7 days per week, with no days off? The one that sometimes begins at the crack of dawn and lasts all throughout the night? The one that allows me no sick days, no (solo) vacation time, minimal free time, and no monetary compensation? This job is the most important job I will ever have in my life, and it also brings me the most joy, the most fulfillment, and the most profound kind of love I've ever known.

Happy Mother's Day to the woman who, by her selfless example, taught me all about the kind of mom that I want to be (and that I am hopefully becoming).

And to Camden and Macey: I am so grateful to be your mom every single day of the year. I am the lucky one.