Mother's Day is here!

This day encompasses a particular happiness for me. As I get older, I begin to realize what it truly takes to be a mom. Any opportunity to celebrate my mom & other special moms' has really taken a special meaning. The magical thing about moms... you never really know how much they do.

Kudos to all you moms out there!!! :o)

This holiday, however, has also marked another annual milestone to me. Mother's Day means ... the end of the school year.

This year it means the end to the *first year since childhood* that I've spent outside the school system. Up until August 2007 my entire life has been based around the August to May schedule. It makes me think back to what I would be doing right now if I were teaching... The last 2 years I held a traditional Mother's Day celebration with my first graders. The kind where we'd invite all the special women in students' lives to come squeeze their adult-sized rumps into miniature chairs. In front of them their obligatory Mother's Day letter handwritten by their little-one. Following refreshments, students would present the poem below. Sometimes the tears started with the letters, but the poem was a sure thing. You may want tissues!

Before I Was a Mom
(Author Unknown)

Before I was a Mom,
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got to bed.
I brushed my hair everyday.

Before I was a mom,
I cleaned my house everyday.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to lullabies.

Before I was a mom,
I never held down a screaming child
So that doctors could do tests or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night to watch a baby sleep.

Before I was a mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I would love being a mom.

Before I was a mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside of my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important.

Before I was a mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache or the satisfaction of being a mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

Before I was a mom.

Happy Mother's Day!!