Mother’s Day Reflection

A mother’s role is not to be the perfect Mom. No one is capable of perfection. A mother’s role is to love unconditionally and try to pass along lessons and knowledge to help shape the lives of her children in a positive direction. There is no perfect mom nor is there a perfect one size fit all relationship between a mother and child. If a child can reflect and realize why their mother made the decisions they did and can see they were backed by love, they have won. Children are allowed to disagree with choices made by their parents, but if they can unequivocally say they are loved, they are always able to return to this foundation. Disagreements happen but love shines through. On Mother’s Day, I am blessed to have the Mother I was raised by. Being older I am able to understand why I was raised the way I was and I would not change my upbringing.

My mother shows love through actions and putting others before herself. Many of these actions fall behind the spotlight because they are little, constant, selfless actions that feel “expected.” They feel expected because they have always happened. It is selfish to feel they are expected, but at the same time, it offers a chance to reflect and realize all of the little things that myself or my brothers never had to worry about because of our Mom. She did and continues to do so much for us. Little things like packing our lunch and making sure to attend all of our sporting events. Little things like letting us choose the movie we watched or making sure we did not forget items we would need for any adventure. My Mom also did all of the big things. She made sure her children were able to travel around the country every summer so we have lifelong memories of seeing other places. She gave us freedom as freedom and responsibility were earned. When there was a push, there was always a pull. She expected results and hammered accountability into our days. She made sure we were prepared to go off to college and lead our own lives. She taught us and continues to teach us how to be adults. Most of all our Mother has loved and continues to love.

In reflecting on the selfless actions of my Mother I find myself thinking that my Mom acted how a mother should act. This is the wrong perspective to have because the contrary was and is entirely possible. My Mother could have acted much differently. She could have prioritized her life over her children’s. She could have been much more involved in her own career and become more distant. She could have been more busy, too busy to cater to all of our needs. But she wasn’t. She was and continues to be everything we needed in a Mother.

Mother’s Day is a public reminder to love your mom, and to appreciate what she has done for you. A day where any minor disagreement or flaw can be overlooked for the big picture. It should not take the public holiday of Mother’s Day to feel thankful. Every day should be a “Mother’s Day” of sorts. Call your mom, and tell her you love and care for her. Be thankful and remember, a mother’s love shines through above all else.