“Your the Best mom ever!” shouted my son when he was about three years old.  I remember questioning him because I was in the middle of cooking dinner and he was coloring in his dinosaur coloring book, nothing fantastic was going on.  I didn’t just buy him a toy or make him his favorite meal, we were just getting through a very ordinary day.  He smiled real big and said ” Because you love me so much.”  That little boy is now a young man and I still love to hear my kids tell me that they love me.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and I spent my Mother’s Day at a baseball tournament.  I actually didn’t mind because that’s what mamas do when they have kids who play competitive sports.  I had the best reminder of what really matters when you are doing this thing called motherhood.  Let me share with you a scenario from this weekend…..

I arrive early to my son’s game.  It is chilly weather so of course I am bundled up. Toting my blanket and stadium chair and my chai tea looking more like a professional juggler than a mom, I reach the grandstand and put all my things down.  The game being played while my son is warming up is filled with the younger players.  These little guys are 8 and competitive.  There are lots of little siblings running around too, all of them preschoolers.  Sitting down in front of me is a young mom with her little girl sitting on her lap snuggled tightly in a soft fleece blanket.  Standing next to her are a group of women who also have boys playing in this game.  They are not really watching the game but are inthralled in conversation all about mothering.  Quickly the conversation turns to the recent cover of Time magazine and the buzz is about how long a mother should breast feed, then if they should work outside of the home, then about homeschooling.  These ladies were on all the ” mommy war ” subjects.  Things calmed down as I took my place on the bleachers behind the quiet mom and her snuggled child.  Next topic of conversation was Pinterest and all the fabulous ideas all these ladies were busy trying to accomplish.  They did engage the rest of us in the conversation and soon we all were chatting about this amazing craft idea one of the moms had found the night before.  Finally one of the moms asked the lady in the blanket what she did to be a “better mom”.  The sweet young mom looked very nervous and shared that they did not have a lot of money so she really didn’t look at Pinterest or plan lavish parties or create gourmet meals.  She said ” I do a lot of this” , referring to holding her daughter on her lap.  She proceeded to tell everyone how she goes to the free puppet show at the library and how she makes very simple meals and how she loves to read to her children and she is looking forward to summer when they can all go the park and just hang out.  She gave her daughter a big squeeze to which her little girl peeked her head out of the blanket and said very loudly, ” You’re the BEST mom ever!”  She kissed her little one on the top of the head and began watching her son play baseball.

I was taken back to the day my son declared that so long ago.  I believe our kids just want us to love them ,to be there for them.  We can occupy our time with all of these “doing” projects thinking we are great moms.  We can argue about how long someone should breast feed or how they should school their children.  None of that really matters.  Soon the young players were finished and our teenagers ran onto the field.  My little girl sat on my lap and I quickly wrapped our blanket around us.  My son got up to bat and he looked over to my husband and I as he always does, making sure we are there.  We give him a thumbs up and I am thankful for the opportunity to be a mom.

I enjoyed the cards and gifts for Mother’s Day but I really appreciated the reminder from a stranger wrapped in a soft fleece blanket on the importance of “being” a mom !

Blessings !

Sherri