For all Moms

[VF21]

To Mothers

This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's okay, honey, Mommy's here."

Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can't be comforted.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purses.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.

And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars.

And that when their kids asked, "Did you see me, Mom?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and meant it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand)mothers who wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then read it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at home -- or even away at college or have their own families.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from the school nurse an
hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14-year-olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shootings.

For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their children who just came home from school safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good mother anyway? Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?

Or is it in her heart?

Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when you just want to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home?

Or the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation... And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us...

Hang in there. In the end we can only do the best we can. Tell them every day that we love them. And pray and never stop being a mom.

Please pass along to all the moms in your life.

"Home is what catches you when you fall - and we all fall."

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

 

[Padrino]

wonderful!! mothers should be celebrated in this fashion. one of the trickiest endeavors i engage in annually is the writing of The Mother's Day Poem, which is a genre unto itself. how do i pen something worthy, something that adequately represents my mother? it's tough, especially since she kinda expects a new poem every year. i certainly don't want to make this thread about me, but i would like to share my appreciation for moms everywhere. i literally finished this poem last night, in advance of mother's day. it is, quite obviously, dedicated to my mother, and i'd also like to offer it up to all the moms of kf.com. like my mom, you certainly understand the sacrifices that come with the territory...

ORGAN DONOR

for my mother


If someday my mother decided to donate her body
to science, the doctors would discover a carnival tent
turned inside out. They’d clearly see her kids’ wildest
dreams pinballing around her ribcage, her husband’s
handprints stamped into the plaster of her pulse.

Her eyelids would read like an altar for the sacrifice
of sleep. A careful excavation of her internal clock
might preserve its 25-hour cycle. Along her spine
they’d find a whole collection of bootstraps, fraying
at the edges from an annual marathon of stress tests.

Further inspection would reveal a lion tamer hidden
under her tongue, forever overworked at the crack-end
of a whip. Inside her lungs they’d uncover a gift basket
of extra miles, an odometer racing past its maximum limit.

If someday my mother decided to donate her heart,
the recipient would require a chest cavity large enough
to house a bed and breakfast's worth of greetings.
They would need an accompanying smile wide enough
to roll out the red carpet treatment for any passer-by,
to say Come inside. You are welcome here.

 

[VF21]

Thank you, Padrino.

Happy Mother's Day to all our moms, those who are still with us and those who reside in our hearts and our memories.

 

[Prophetess]

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there!
(including the men who do that job too)