Tomorrow is a big day. It’s Mother’s Day. This year, I have a different perspective. I don’t want my kids to get me a thing. I don’t want them to do anything for me, other than just spend some time with me. This year is different in many ways. This year, my oldest has been off in college. My youngest splits his time between my house and his dad’s.

But this year, I don’t want my kids to celebrate me. I want to celebrate them. After all, they are the reason I get to celebrate this day in the first place. I have been given an honor that way too many have been denied, way too many take too lightly, and way too many don’t deserve. If you have read any of my posts you’ll know that all I ever wanted was to be a mom. And once you have become a mother, you never stop. Even if for some tragic reason your kids are taken from you, you will always be a mom. I will be a mom until the day I die. And that is a badge of honor I will carry to my grave.

Have I done everything perfectly? No. Will I make mistakes in the future? Yes. Is there anything I would do differently? Probably many things, but sometimes I wish I would have had more kids. One thing I can tell you is I have Loved. Every. Minute. There is nothing in this world I would exchange it for. There haven’t always been easy times – but I have always thanked God for them – for allowing me to be their mom, their “caretaker.” Because deep down, I know they aren’t “mine.” They are His. And I know that at any moment, He might want them back.

So this Mother’s Day, I’m celebrating them. For making me become everything I have always wanted. And things I never wanted. For teaching me things about myself. Bringing things out in me I never knew existed. No man on earth can fathom the joy of giving birth. To carry around another human being and sustaining life inside your body for nine months. Even being  their life outside the womb with the gift of breastfeeding.

No other gift on earth could replace the gift I have received. I’m the lucky one.

So here’s to my kids on Mother’s Day. Thank you for making me a Mom! God only knows what I’d be without you…