Crazy like a MOTHA!

With Mother's Day coming up, I've been thinking a lot about my mom and what it means to be a mother. There are many times when I fail at being a good mother. Like when we were eating a late dinner on Sunday and the kids said they were still hungry. After a long day I was pretty tired (it was after 9pm). So I opened up a can of corn, and put it on the table (still in the can), and told the kids to help themselves. They didn't complain. Although Ethan did say it might have been better if it was warm ;)

If you're like me, you probably spend a lot of time beating yourself up about how you're doing as a parent. You always think you could or should be doing something better. But I think that it is in some of those "imperfect" moments, that we are at our best. In fact I know it is...

My mom was not your typical mom. She was the kind of mom who wasn't afraid of getting down on the ground and playing with her kids. She actually threw her back out once while wrestling with my brother! My best memories were probably times when she thought she wasn't at her best. Like when I told her I wanted to go to a club with some friends and she offered to "get dressed up" and take me rather then let me go alone. That may not have been the way some other mothers would have handled it, but it was exactly what I needed.

Maybe she wished at times she could provide us with more material things, but I look back on the Valentines Day that she lit candles and made us pot pies in the shapes of hearts as one of the best ever!

Maybe she wishes that she would have been more serious - she was always playing pranks on us. Hiding under our blankets and jumping out as we climbed into bed, setting off the fire alarm in the middle of the night, embarrassing us in public. Sometimes she still does ;) But I love the fact that she was able to let her hair down and have fun with her kids. And I hope I can do the same with mine.

Maybe she wishes she were more of the meek and mild type women that some of her friends were. I could tell the story of when she first got married and got into a fight with a girl who called her a bad name (there may or may not have been a weapon and jail involved) but I won't.  ;-)  But I will tell you that my mom doesn't take any crap from anyone and now neither do I!

Sometimes there is perfection in our imperfection. Instead of beating myself up in those can of cold corn moments, I'm going to remember that it's ok to make mistakes and for my kids to see that I'm only human. And if I get lucky, they may look back at those times and smile like I do :) So embrace your crazy side this Mother's Day and maybe embrace your crazy MOTHA too!