The Trouble with Mothering

I interrupt this bi-weekly column for a little (belated) Mother’s Day reflection.

I am a mother. I am not a tiger mom or a dolphin mom or a helicopter mom. Please stop trying to label me. I am the mother my children need me to be and the mother my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother taught me to be.

As the author of a “mommy blog” this might sound crazy but my call today is to ask all mommies to stop with the labels, the definitions, the explanations and judging let’s all just be moms. So instead of picking a “parenting type” from a book or column let’s all be honest, most of us are a little bit of everything and that’s what I call balance.

Some days I need to be the “meany mommy” my three year old accuses me of being. But sometimes she just needs a mom that will cuddle with her, or laugh with her. Or drag her to the zoo so she can jump in puddles. Some days I’m too spent to do more than feed my infant and phone in a bedtime story. And some days I can feed my infant while playing dress up and making dinner. Some days I’m the mommy who will do interpretive dance to the Frozen soundtrack and some days I might break the cd if I hear “Let it Go” one more time.

But I’d bet all our moms felt the same way and let’s face it our moms were pretty great.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother’s Day and got a day filled with love.