Yeah for motherhood!

"I have no doubt that there is an audience of angels standing and applauding our valiant efforts to raise good and moral children everyday. I hope the next time any of us find ourselves feeling unappreciated or undervalued in our roles of mother, we will stop for a moment and turn our minds and hearts to the greater picture. I hope in that almost prayerful moment we will be able to feel the warmth of that heavenly applause and know we are doing the most important job on Earth. We are caring for and raising children of God. " -Stephanie Waite, Nevada's Young Mother of the Year

I love all the wonderful women who have shaped my life and taught me how to be a better mother, especially my own mom. Being the oldest I was the guinea pig. There was a time I was grounded for an ENTIRE month because I sassed my mom and my dad just happened to be home and heard it which was a rarity. I guess having a 14-year-old home for an entire month was a little too much because none of my younger siblings ever got the punishment. But ya know it was for my own good. Sometimes moms do things because they know better. I'm always telling my kids, "Moms know everything!"



One thing I realized this past week is that even though children may grow up and move out of the house, you never stop parenting and being involved in their lives. That's what makes a family. Sometimes children move far away and it becomes even more crucial to be creative and find ways to stay involved in their life and continue to build those relationships. When the lines of communication are down, the relationship suffers. Kind of like prayer, huh?

My mom is a wonderful example of always staying in constant contact with all of her six children. It is usually a phone call, sometimes a lunch date, but rarely a mass email sent to all of us. It would be an easy thing to let contact slip especially when life is busy but she is so good at taking individual time for each one of us. That is something I want to emulate when my children are grown and have moved away. I couldn't imagine months slipping by with no contact from my mom and certainly don't want that to happen with my own kids. I love her and am so grateful she is my mom. What a great lady.