Thank You For Staying

Moms,

You know you can leave right?

I bet you know where the suitcase is. I bet you know which pile of unfolded clothes you could grab a handful of and know it will be enough to get you out, for you to leave.

You could walk away from being a mom anytime you want to.

Now, some of you are thinking, "This is absurd. There is no way I would leave my babies. Yes, I could run out of the house screaming some days, but I would always come back. Always."

For those thinking that, THANK YOU FOR STAYING.

Because you really could wake up one day and decide to leave it all behind you. Believe it or not, women make that choice everyday. You want to know why?

BECAUSE BEING A MOM IS THE HARDEST JOB IN THE WORLD.

It is by the far the hardest, under paid job in the world.

I work in a world where I have the sweetest souls walk into my office and tell me story after story about how their mom decided to stop being a mom.

The story doesn't always include a suitcase. Sometimes it involves pills, a bottle, a needle, a man. Just because the woman who gave birth to you is living in your home does not mean she's a mother to you.

So if you have a sweet little angel anxiously handing you a hand made card, or a grown adult calling you this Mother's Day, I want to tell you THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING THIS.

Thank you for the nights you sacrificed sleep.

Thank you for the days you handed that sweet child into their father's arms and walked away to refresh your mind.

Thank you for staying, when the judgmental stares came during a trip to the grocery store and the biggest temper tantrum of all time occurred.

Thank you for staying, when vomit and diarrhea find it's way onto your shirt and pants.

Thank you for staying when you didn't think you had the energy to.

Staying is half the battle. If you can stay, your halfway doing it. Give yourself credit for that. Really, it's a huge part of the job.

I especially want to say thank you to the step mothers, foster mothers, and adopted mothers of the world.

You did not carry that child in your womb. You did not spend 9 months, feeling that child grow inside of you.

You, especially you, DO NOT HAVE TO STAY.

But you do. You stay. Everyday you choose to love a child as if you had them with you from the beginning. Your love is just as strong and vibrant, ready to storm after anyone who ever tries to hurt them or harm them. You laugh with them, you cry with them, you get angry with them. Yet, you are probably the most under appreciated part of their lives. I hope you know, that even if your child never fully knows how to express it to you, YOU MEAN EVERYTHING TO THEM.

Mom's, I can never thank you enough for staying. I can tell you that I SEE you. I see what you are doing and you are doing it beautifully. You are dancing to the dance of motherhood beautifully, mistakes and all. Just because you stumble and fall from time to time does not mean you are a bad mother, it just means you're human. It means you are living, breathing, heart beating human who is still here on this planet to shower love onto your child. I can't tell you how many people wish their mom was still here to do that.

No, you won't always do it right.

No, you won't always feel like what you do is enough.

But I hope you always take the time to remind yourself that you don't have to be perfect. No one was ever looking for perfect. They just wanted to know that they could count on you to be there. That's it. Your imperfect presence is always what's longed for.

So on this Mother's Day, read the cards and words and believe them. Believe that what you are doing TRULY DESERVES TO BE RECOGNIZED.

Who you are is enough. Allow us to celebrate that about you this mother's day weekend. Allow us to celebrate YOU.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY.