The Hardest Job

It's Mother's Day, and while we never do anything special to celebrate it, it means something to me now that I am a mother.  I don't think I ever appreciated what a difficult job mothering was until I became one.  Especially if you want to be a good one.

It's not something you can learn from a book.  There are hundreds of parenting books out there, sure, but you don't learn to be a good parent by reading a book.  Every kid is different, and what might work for one kid, won't work for another.

I think that's the hardest part.  You have your first kid and think you've made all your mistakes, learned all the lessons, but when baby number 2 comes along, you're starting from scratch.  You may be a little more prepared for the utter exhaustion that comes with the sleepless nights, but that's about it.  Almost everything else will be different.

But that's also the wonderful part of being a mother.  That you're not rolling robots out into the world. That each of these tiny bundles you bring home will be a unique individual with his/her own gifts and talents and disappointments.

So, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.