Mother's Day

Mother's Day is my new favorite holiday. It's even better than your birthday because everywhere I went today, random strangers told me "Happy Mother's Day" and strangers never know to wish you a happy birthday unless they are the kind of strangers that we warn small children about, and then really, did you want them wishing you a happy anything?

The seafood place down the road even handed out free straw hats to all mothers (who were willing to wear the hat in the first place).

Jeremy got me my very own DS -- pink, of course and then paid way more than he wanted to on a pair of Sketchers I had been wanting. Sydney, for her part, was extra cute today and just reminded me of why I love being a mother in the first place.

So, in honor of Sydney, and of Mother's Day, I would like to share the things I love about being a mother:

1. I love having someone to play with. I just don't understand why grown-ups don't get to play and so I try to surround myself with kids so that I have an excuse. It's why I teach Kindergarten. Now I get to play at home as much as I play at work.
2. I love having someone looking up to me -- it makes me try my best everyday to be a person worth the admiration.
3. I love getting to rediscover the world. Today we took some carnations to the nursing home for the mothers who live there. When was the last time you tore up a carnation to see how the petals felt and licked them to see how they taste? No one but a toddler would think to do that.
4. I love being part of someone else's learning and life experiences. I am having so much fun teaching her about textures and tastes right now. I can't wait to see what she'll want to learn about next.
5. I love knowing that I had some small part in bringing this special little person into the world. Whatever she does with her life, whoever she touches and whatever footprint she leaves behind, I will get to look at it and know I was part of that, too.