Here’s to the moms…  with your messy houses, dishes in the sink, clothes on the floor, toys everywhere, late nights and early mornings… you deserve far more than a day and far more than a thank you.

Here’s to the moms… you don’t need to be called “warrior moms” any more than a lion would need to be called a “lion cat”, you have stood up to school boards, governments, insurance companies, bullies, nosy neighbors, stereotypes, judgments, assumptions and everything else that the world could throw at you and while not every battle is a victory, there has never been defeat.

Here’s to the moms… you sacrifice, sometimes literally, everything for your child, you think that lack of sleep or social life is a minor frustration in the grand scheme of things, you will go without food before your child ever does, you would literally take a bullet for your child if necessary.

Here’s to the moms… your child is perfect no matter how anyone else in the world may see them, gifted or not, special needs or not. Your child is as important to you as any other child is to their mother. Your child is your world, your child is beautiful.

Here’s to the moms… your day does not belong to a 9 to 5 schedule, you don’t get 2 weeks of vacation each year, you don’t have a cushy retirement to look forward to for your work, you know that being a parent, God willing, is for life… and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here’s to the moms… you don’t need to be praised but you also don’t need to be advised… you don’t need to be accepted but you don’t need to be judged… you don’t need people out of your life but you don’t need people in your business, you don’t “need” anything but you welcome a kind hand when offered.

Here’s to the moms… you know that being a mom is more than just being a “biological mother”, it’s far more than just giving birth.

Here’s to you… a human being, doing your best with what you have. Living life as both a guardian and a friend, a teacher and a student. Not doing what you do because you have to but because it is what you do.

You’re a mom. It’s who you are.

Here’s to you. For being you.

Happy Mother’s Day.