How This Single Mother Celebrates Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a day to celebrate mothers, and each mother celebrates their day a little differently. Here is how I choose to celebrate.
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Sometimes, I get a little sad around Mother's Day. I think about how Mother's Day was supposed to look: sleeping in, breakfast in bed, handmade and store bought gifts that someone has helped my children make and pick out. And in that moment, I have a tiny pity party. I take a moment to mourn my idealized picture of what I thought my life would be.

And then I snap out of it. Because there is no sense in wallowing in the should-have-could-have-would-have-beens.

Besides, gifts aren't all that important to me, and breakfast has never been my thing (unless a run to Starbucks counts). I'm not going to lie, sleeping in would be nice, but I pretty much knew I had given that up when that second line turned pink. And when the second child came along twenty-two months after the first, just forget about it. That's what coffee is for.

No, Mother's Day is a day to celebrate mothers, and each mother celebrates their day a little differently. Here is how I choose to celebrate:

I celebrate the fact that I have two happy and healthy children.

I celebrate that I'm able to coach my son's t-ball team (and that he's young enough to think that's cool!).

I celebrate the movie nights and snuggles on the couch.

I celebrate the fact that my daughter can now use the toilet (seriously, I wasn't sure the day would ever come).

I celebrate the days where there's no bickering.

I celebrate the days where there IS bickering, but we power through the tears back to the laughter.

I celebrate the meals we eat around the table (whether I make them or they've been ordered in).

I celebrate the trips to the library, park, and museum.

I celebrate all of the hugs and kisses.

I celebrate the times my daughter looks at me and says, "We're best buddies."

I celebrate every smooth transition between homes and parents.

I celebrate bedtime stories and prayers.

I celebrate the lovely people in my life who fill in for me when I'm working.

I celebrate the faith, hope, and love that abounds in our home and hearts.

I celebrate a mother and a grandmother who, although they were not single parents, instilled in me a sense of self-worth and confidence and taught me what it means to be strong.

But most of all, I celebrate all of the mothers -- the single, the married, and the widowed. The adoptive mothers and the birth mothers. The single dads and aunts and grandmas who have volunteered to undertake the Mother role. The introverted and extroverted mothers. The PTO moms and the hot mess moms. I celebrate you all! Because we're all in this together. Because we're all just trying to love our children and not screw them up. And because sometimes even the strongest of us needs a little encouragement.

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Happy Mother's Day!

Lindsey, Deacon, and Nora

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