Dear Mom,
Now that I am a mom, I want to thank you for all you’ve done. Before I had kids I had a totally different perspective of my parents, life, and children. I never thought “oh you’re baby is so cute.” What I thought was thanks for posting a million pictures of your baby online I don’t care about.
My mom was just my mom, someone I took for granted. I expected her to help me in everything I need anytime.
Now that I have two children (a toddler and infant!), my whole perspective of the world has changed. It’s something you can’t describe to someone who does not have children. Just like you can’t describe how it feels to have a sibling to a single child, or what it’s like to have a chronic disease to a healthy person. Becoming a mom is forever changing in every way.
So, on this Mother’s Day, mom, I want to thank you for dealing with the long pregnancy (of twins), the nausea, cravings, mood swings, weight gain, stretch marks, turning dads hair grey when he heard about twins, and whatever else may have happened (the list is never ending).
I want to thank you for the long sleepless nights of feeding screaming babies and protecting us from killing ourselves and each other. I want to thank you for giving up most of your free time (who am I kidding, all of your time) to us. I want to thank you for giving up your full time job to care for us and help us grow.
Oh my goodness, let’s not even talk about the toddler tantrums and meltdowns! I’m not sure how you did it with a boy and twin girls! I guess that’s why you don’t remember most of it! Thank you for changing poopy and pee diapers with a wrestling monkey (or whatever we were), because it sure is hard sometimes.
I want to thank you for all the great experiences you provided to us. All the wonderful vacations, day trips, toys, and playtime you provided have made me and my sister and brother who we are (which by the way is awesome).
The list goes on and on, and would take forever to write it all out.
Now that I’m a mom I understand what it’s like to wake up every hour to make sure my baby is still breathing. I know what it’s like to yearn for a nap and sleep but then toss and turn worrying if the baby is okay without you. Or finally get free time and just wonder how the kids are or have nothing left to talk about but how the baby babbled or crawled (at one time I would have completely rolled my eyes at this). I know what it’s like to want your child to have everything but also know you need to limit and teach them about the world. I know the struggle of balancing work and caring for kids, trying to keep friendships alive, having date nights and trying to talk about something besides the kids.
Thank you for holding my hand, drying my tears, spending all your hard earned money to take me on trips and experiences to help me grow. Thank you for rocking me to bed, reading me countless books, and never giving up on me.
Again, the list goes on and on and will continue to grow as the children and I grow.
I also apologize for all those times we hide in the clothing racks while we were shopping. The teenage years in general and the lack of appreciation I have given you before having my own children.
I am very blessed and lucky to have a mom (also dad- but it’s not Father’s Day yet) who are willing to help whenever needed. Besides the amazing mom support you provide, we always joke about the services of mom and dad including but not limited to: babysitting, laundry, yard work, food shopping, dog sitting, painting, bed and breakfast and many other jobs now that you are retired.
So on this Mother’s Day I say thank you for all you have done and continue to do for all our families. Love you mom!
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