Author: bvillareal

Mother’s Day is tomorrow, and it is a day our thoughts center around our mothers, all of the things we can be thankful for, and how to honor them. In this article, I do not want to thank my mother even though I do for everything she taught me.

I want to take this time to thank my children for making me a mother. I don’t mean in the biological sense, because their father helped with that. I want to thank them for what has happened since they made their first appearance known to me with a tiny butterfly kicks.

Since I became a mother, I have learned many things. How to be patient, how to be loving even when a child is saying, “I hate you!” How to embrace that same child when they say “I love you!” How to clean up messes that are not your own and go on to teach that child how to clean up after themselves; how to help them take responsibility for their own actions; how to potty train; how to be a teacher on a daily basis; how to embrace the simple things; the moments of quiet, the moments of laughter, the moments of tears; how to continue even when you are going it alone; how to be strong when you have no strength left; how to find a way when there is no way; how to embrace faith and rely on that faith to care for a child when they are beyond hope; how to love and be loved; how to find joy in a child’s embrace or a sloppy kiss; how to find joy in small hugs and first steps, first words, first signs of growing up; how to share sadness in first disappointments, first cruelty, first broken heart; and how to go on after burying one long before his time.

All of these things have helped me to become the woman I am today. Most of all, I want to thank my children for the beautiful, wonderful, smart, talented grandchildren they have given me, and the precious moments I have spent with them.

I love you so very much! Thank you for making me a mother.