Happy Birthday Mom!

Since I became a Mom I have found a whole new appreciation for my own mother. Sunday was my mom's birthday. P and I were so lucky that she chose to spend her special day with us. We went shopping and just hung out. It was a great day!

Raising a daughter is not an easy job. I sit at the beginning of this marathon called motherhood looking towards the milestones that face me in the future with bewilderment. How did she do it? Because I am not so sure that I can do the same job.

With this job comes a whole boat load of worries. Will I pass on the same values, morals, ideals that my mother instilled in me? Will I be able to provide the same happy memories and traditions? Will it all be enough? What about manners,the importance of family and friendships? Will I be able to do it the way that I want to do it?

The answer to that question is on going. But the fear is that life will get in the way, and one day I will wake up with a 17 year old and hope that I did an ok job. The thought is terrifying for me. Seriously...I have nightmares about it.

I will be honest--I don't think my mom had it all together a lot of the time. She is a little scatterbrained. She is forgetful. Despite that I think that I am a pretty well-rounded product. I have good morals, values, memories, traditions, and I truly understand how important my family and friends are. It is this fact that gives me hope. Although I may feel like I have no clue what I am doing--it doesn't necessarily mean that I am not doing a good job.

It is such a monumental job--raising a child. It's not easy, but it is very rewarding. While we are growing up we do not realize the amount of work, sweat, tears, and frustration that goes into raising us. Well, I truly understand it now.

Thank you mom for making my first word "thank you" and for insisting that manners were important. Thank you for forcing me to be active as a child, for putting an emphasis on the arts and music, and for stressing the importance of education and literacy. Thank for making me go to church and for teaching me about religion. Thank you for not lecturing (too much) about the fact that I choose not to practice that religion today. Thank you for all the social science fair projects, spelling test study sessions, nights spent crying over math homework, and english papers that you helped me with. Thank you for having me around your friends growing up, and not just sticking me with a babysitter all of the time. I learned a lot by having all of those adult influences in my life. I hope that P will have a similar experience.

If I could go back and raise myself--I wouldn't change a thing. You did a great job, mom. I hope that I can follow your example. We love you!