An Ode to Mom

     When I think of moms, I think of this picture I took a few years ago. 

     There's an obviously gleeful little guy. But if you look closer, you notice the exhausted mother catching 3.4 seconds of rest in the background. She's a wise one, that mom, taking advantage of his distraction to get her daily allotment of rest right then and there. It'll only be matter of time before she hears "Mommy!" for the 938th time that day. Or that hour. You lose track sometimes.

     Behind every energetic little person is a SuperMom. Yet somehow SuperMom's son is oblivious that his superhero needs any sleep. She can (and does) do anything! He's never seen her sleep before; she's up before he is and up when he goes to sleep. She makes breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She works outside the home. She makes him put on clean clothes every. day. She takes him on fun adventures to the park, makes him giggle like no one else can, and gives him treats from time to time. She knows the answer to everything, even knowing the sound guinea pigs make. 

     She's a mom. 

     And a very good one at that. 
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     My mom? She's the best.

     I'm like that little guy in the picture above most of the time, oblivious to all the hard work she did for us every day. Not just to keep the four of us alive (quite a feat in itself), but to even make life enjoyable. 

     I've spent a lot of time with some moms these past few months, and almost every day I end up thinking, "Wow. My parents are amazing. Despite everything, they had four of us. And they never sold a single one of us to the zoo."

     It's true. I learn a little bit more about their sacrifices all the time, but I'm so, so thankful for my parents. Today, especially, for my mom.

Thanks, Mom, for carrying us around for 9 months even though there is no way in the world that could be fun. I'm amazed I exist considering pregnancy and childbirth are involved and you should've known better by the time I came along.

Thanks for not crushing me when I would change the subject every single time I got in trouble. (You like how I said "would" like it doesn't still happen?)

Thanks for teaching me a great parenting tactic; I'm looking forward to telling little people they have to be quiet or the food won't cook properly. 

Thanks for allowing me to live after that time I yelled, "Mom, are you wearing any pants?!" in public. 

Thanks for always wearing pants. 

Thanks for working your tush off at work all day and then coming home and working your tush off again to put food on the table, run kids to practice, and sign all the ridiculous school paperwork.

Thank you for sacrificing your Saturdays (and Sundays...and Monday-Friday nights) from 1988-2008 so that your kids could play. I'm really, really thankful you were at all those games and took me to all those practices. And now that I've seen how important weekends are for rest, I thank you even more giving up your time doing your things to instead do our things.

Thanks for not letting me know how much you hated softball until I finally gave it up. Supporting me--even coaching me--when you would have much rather been doing so many other things means a lot. 

Thanks for making my dreams come true. I would have never been a Dalmatian--my ultimate dream job at age 4--had you not agreed to hand-paint our tee-ball uniforms. 

Thanks for signing all those permission slips I forgot to give to you until the morning they were due.

Thanks for tying my shoes tighter than I thought humanly possible every morning even after I learned how to tie them. I beat many a boy on the playground thanks to those super tight shoestrings.

Thanks for making me drink my milk every night before I could leave the table. (But I still don't thank you for those brussel sprout nights. Maybe I'll be more grateful in a few years?)

Thanks for teaching me how to be responsible, saving money, and helping us all get through college without debt unlike a zillion of our peers. To be able to start off without baggage is an incredible gift. 

Thanks for letting me run off to faraway places even though if it were up to you I wouldn't be globetrotting. 

Thanks for laughing at my jokes, even the ones that are scarily close to being Dad jokes. 

Thanks for spending all day in the kitchen on Thanksgiving and birthdays to prepare the most delicious food simply because you know your family loves it. 

Thanks for pushing me to do well in school. 
 
Thanks for taking care of all the cuts, bruises, and broken bones. 

Thanks for letting me commandeer many a jacket, blanket, and shirt. 

Thanks for still letting me go to the grocery store with you although I have always had a reputation for sneaking important things like apples, pretzels, ice cream, and cheese danish into your shopping cart. 

Thanks for letting me crash your office and eat lunch with you back when you worked at the elementary school. 

Thanks for teaching me to be fearless. For teaching me I could do anything if I decided I wanted to do it.

Thanks for always stockpiling the kitchen with our favorites whenever one of us comes home. 

Thanks for calling me Heather way, way less often than Dad. 

Thanks for all you do. From the time you became a mom just a few years ago until now, where 4/4 kids are college graduates, you've been a champion of service. Thanks for loving us, making time for us, making rules for us, and cheering us on. We love you and are so blessed you are our mother. I hope you had a fantastic Mother's Day. See you real soon!