This was sent to me this morning, and I wanted to share it with all the 
wonderful mothers on this list who are in the process of helping other women 
become wonderful mothers too.....it's a beautiful thought....

Jan in snowy, but sunny Wheaton <*)))><  Happy New Year to all my dear, dear 
friends on Lactnet....


FOR MOTHERS EVERYWHERE

This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off on metal bleachers at 
football games Friday night instead of watching from cars, so that when their 
kids asked,"Did you see me?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have 
missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in 
their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid 
saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here."

This is for all the mothers of Kosovo who fled in the night and can't find 
their children.  This is for the others who gave birth to babies they'll 
never see.  And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

For all the mothers of the victims of the Colorado shooting, and the mothers 
of the murderers.  For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat 
in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from 
school, safely.  For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and 
sew Halloween costumes.  And all the mothers who don't.

What makes a good Mother anyway?  Is it patience?  Compassion?  Broad hips?
The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at 
the same time?  Or is it heart?  Is it the ache you feel when you watch your 
son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to School alone for the 
first time?  The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 
2 A.M.  to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?  The need to flee 
from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school 
shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying?

So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained 
all about making babies.  And for all the mothers who wanted to but just 
couldn't.  This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year.  
And then reading it again.  "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who mess up.  Who yell at their kids in the 
grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a tired 
2-year old who wants ice cream before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their daughters to tie their shoelaces 
before they started school.  And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro, 
instead.  For all the mothers who bite their lips--sometimes until they 
bleed--when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.  Who lock themselves in 
the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair 
and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.  This is for all 
the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump 
shot.

This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice 
calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are at 
home.  This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their 
children's graves.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words 
to reach them.  This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to school 
with stomachaches, assuring they'd be just fine once they got there, only to 
get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them 
up right away.

This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep 
deprivation.  And mature mothers learning to let go.  For working mothers and 
stay-at-home mothers.  Single mothers and married mothers. 
Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all.  So hang in there.

Please pass along to all the moms in your life.
"Home is what catches us when we fall - and we all fall."

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