At some point while growing up we realize that authority does not equal instant perfection.  Just because I’m the mom does not mean I don’t have to say I’m sorry.  Just because someone may be the parent, teacher, priest, elder, president, or the police does not mean they’re right and irrefutable.  Like kids and parents, everyone makes mistakes.

Additional inevitable truths each of us eventually realizes:

• you will be hurt by those you love;
• you too will hurt people;
• you will face disappointments;
• and you must choose how to handle each of the above.

These are the life lessons we share with our two sons, ages 9 and soon to be 8 after they’ve had an argument, fought with a friend, or struck out three times and want to quit.  In response to such crises (each of these situations is a crises in their eyes) we ask them, “Now that x has happened, what will you do?  Will you say you’re sorry?  Will you work to make things better?”  When they want to be the best at everything but are still learning, we remind them no one is perfect. When mistakes are made, we work with them.  When they try their hardest – that is what makes their dad and me proud.

Though as a parent you long to make conditions perfect, safe, healthy, and peaceful for your child each day, you cannot control everything.  People (especially parents) have demented needs to be in absolute, total control and to see life as prettier than it truly is. When we let go of these needs, life goes much more smoothly.  This is yet another truth about life (not just parenting) I hope my boys will come to learn from us - rather than focusing on controlling how their lives go, I would rather my boys align their life each day to something much more important:

Love. 

My boys are little but they and their dad have opened my eyes to a wondrous truth: YOU REALLY CAN LOVE SOMEONE UNCONDITIONALLY.

After going through life’s ups and downs, grown-ups and kids alike can put up walls and act strong.  The walls and the tough act make it difficult to truly love and be loved. But it’s a very powerful feeling, being vulnerable and open to loving people unconditionally.

How do my husband and I explain our unconditional love to our sons?

• We tell them that when they lie to us, we love them.
• When they hit each other, we love them.
• When they don’t do well on a test or at a game, we love them.
• As our sons, there isn’t anything they can do that would make us not love them anymore.

Don’t get me wrong.  Though we love our sons no matter what, we still hold them accountable for their actions.  We teach them right from wrong out of our love for them.  Growing from mistakes is possible, and we expect them to do that.  As a family, we hold each other accountable and have high expectations for one another, out of love.

It’s vital that my sons see each day they are loved by us.  I realize that when my sons are older, just like many teens and young adults, they may realize they are gay and find it hard to know who to talk to about it.  They may suffer from a drug addiction and not feel like themselves anymore.  They will have embarrassing questions about sex and drugs.  It is my hope my sons will never fear that by telling us something we will not love them anymore.  We want them to be confident in knowing we love them and are there for them whenever they need us.  No matter what.

Loving someone no matter what means just that.  NO MATTER WHAT.  I never thought such love was possible, but my boys and my husband have taught me that it is.  Knowing they are loved is a lesson I hope will stick when all goes to hell in my kids’ lives, which I know, unfortunately will happen to them at some point, as it does for each of us.  Knowing you are loved gives you solid and stable ground throughout your life and prepares you to unabashedly love others as well. Love brings you joy and no one should be deprived or ashamed of it.

Recently, my youngest son responded to a question in school “In what ways are you special?” by writing “My family loves me.”  My sons know their family loves them.  This is what makes each day of motherhood worthwhile.

Jamie Duignan is a mother of 2 boys, Daniel and Owen, ages 9 and 7 respectively.  Her family enjoys life on the south side of Chicago.  She has a background in law enforcement, which has taught her many hard lessons and opened her eyes to the extreme importance of love in the world.

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Image Credit: Carolyn Sewell

Put that on top of the fact that her feet were so gnarled and curled that as she grew larger, there was no way she would be able to hold up her body weight and it was pretty clear that the best thing to do would to have been to put her down.

But, as I saw this incredibly small little ball of fluff just trying to make do with what she was given in life, I made the decision to try and help her.

We are not new to orthopedic problems in our house. When I was young, I was hit by a car while on a bike. The damage, which only became more apparent as I tried to continue in high school and college sports, required over twenty-two operations throughout my life to fix. I had to relearn how to walk and have adjusted to living life with a certain amount of daily nagging pain.

The philosophy in our house is to fight on and power through. If you want something bad enough and work hard enough, you’ll usually get what you want.

And then there was my teen son who as a result of undiagnosed Lyme Disease had arthritis severe enough to curl his fingers and shuffle his steps. It was inconceivable that he would ever think I’d give up either on him or on a baby chick who through no fault of her own, started off – literally – on the wrong foot. After pleading with the breeder to give me the chick, I took her home and another son and I performed the delicate surgery needed to release her toes.

Charlie (named after the Chocolate Factory because her eggs will be a dark brown making them look much like chocolate eggs) not only survived the surgery, she has thrived. She has lived in our house since January and has become a mascot of sorts for our family – “the little chicken that could.” Although she is certainly old enough at this point to join the others in our backyard flock, we’ve all become rather accustomed to having a chicken in our house.

Charlie makes us laugh. She has a distinct personality and knows what she wants. She watches TV with the kids, sleeps with our Maltese dog, and nests in a box near my writing desk – keeping me company while I work. It’s not that unusual to hear someone off in another room talking to Charlie – “Who’s a good girl?”

I suppose at some point, our little house chicken is going to have to transition out to the hen house (having a chicken in the house means constantly cleaning up after her) but for now we accept her in our home as a valued member of our flock – a constant reminder to us all that if we work hard, we can overcome.

Wendy Thomas is an award winning journalist, columnist, and blogger who believes that taking challenges in life will always lead to goodness. She is the mother of 6 funny and creative kids and it is her goal to teach them through stories and lessons. Wendy’s current project involves writing about her family’s experiences with chickens (yes, chickens).

We all love to do Big Things for our children – the amazing trip to Disney World, that extra special birthday present, a tree house, a new puppy. Those are all wonderful gifts to be able to give and they create special memories, but they are not the things that make motherhood magical. They are not what give mom her mystique. It’s all the little things we do that – combined – make us the moms we are.

And our children respond most deeply to those small things.

I’ve done my share of Big Things with my daughter, but I don’t think they’ll ever add up to match the legacy of little things we’ve done for each other and with each other. Our trip to Disney World was amazing, but it can’t hold a candle to eight plus years of nightly bedtime stories and snuggles. The tree house my beau and I built her is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, but it won’t ever be as important as the time we share at breakfast each morning. The fancy earrings I bought her were a big hit, but not as big a hit as the fact that I know the names of her Club Penguin puffles.

It doesn’t matter as much what we give our children, as how we make them feel. The notes I put in my daughter’s camp lunch box, the time I take to go on walks with her, the way I listen to what she has to say, the fact that I tell her the truth … these are the things that make her feel loved, cherished, valued, respected. These are the things that matter most.

And she returns those feelings to me, and I to her, and around and around it goes.

She picks me a backyard bouquet and I place it with care in a vase on the kitchen windowsill. I make her a handmade Valentine, and she makes me a piece of art signed “For mom. I love you. You are cool.” She tells me her dreams and I tell her mine. I teach her how to keep a journal and she teaches me how to rap. Back and forth these exchanges of small gifts from the heart go – making our bond stronger and deeper than any trip to Disney World ever could. It’s because of these small kindnesses and expressions of trust and affection that we are the kind of mother and daughter who sing duets at bath time, have tickle fests on Sunday mornings, and still – though she is eight-and-a-half and verging on “grown up” – hold hands on our walks and snuggle under a single blanket on movie nights. Those special moments are both a benefit of and an element of the attention we pay to each other’s details – the little things we know make the other person feel happy and loved.

Motherhood truly is in the details. What small things do you do to let your children know they are special and cherished?

Before I go further, I want to be clear that I don’t think televisions or the Internet or mobile phones or even video games are evil. I do think, however, that most people spend way too much of their lives plugged into these screens. That’s why I’m a big supporter of Screen Free Week – an annual event run by the Coalition for a Commercial Free Childhood (CCFC).

If you had asked me six weeks ago whether I thought I could manage my busy world without the “support” of television as a stand-in sitter, I’d have said, “No way.” I confess – though I probably didn’t rate as a prime offender – I did let my daughter watch more TV than was good for her. I did this mostly because (here comes the justification) I’m a single mom who works from home and often until after midnight. I needed every waking minute just to keep my head above water, and letting my daughter indulge in an hour (or – wince – more) of “quality” TV (ok – mostly quality) each day was my way of buying myself the extra time I needed to keep all the balls in the air.

But, at what cost was I buying this “freedom?” A really high one.

My daughter was never neglected, but (I can’t believe I’m admitting this) she routinely ate both breakfast and dinner parked in front of I Love Lucy or Looney Tunes. I multi-tasked my way through the mornings and afternoons, often feeling like I’d hardly seen my daughter although she was sitting mere feet away from me. The trouble was, she was plugged into the TV and I was plugged into my laptop. We were engaged in, as one of my favorite bloggers put it, “parallel play.”

I’m not sure what triggered me, but I woke up one morning and said, “That’s enough.” I kept the TV off and moved our shared meals to the dining room. We played cards and board games. We talked. My beau was a wonderful influence – helping come up with fun ways to distract my daughter from the lack of TV in her daily routine. It was less of a weaning process than I’d anticipated. Who knew she’d much prefer the one-on-one attention of her mother to the electronic company of broadcast cable TV?

Over this short span of weeks I’ve learned that it’s not that hard to unplug. I’ve seen an amazing improvement in the quality of my time with my daughter. I’ve realized (yes, with a pang of guilt for all the hours wasted) that I really do have enough time to do everything if I stop with the multi-tasking and just focus on one thing at a time.

We still watch TV, but more often than not, we watch it together and reserve our viewing time for special things like movies. We still each get our share of screen time on the computer and iPhone and her Nintendo DS, but we spend even more time just hanging out – without the crutch of devices getting in the way of our human-to-human connection. I couldn’t be happier, and I think she’s pretty psyched, too.

Image Credit: Movimento Basta

I can hardly believe it. Seems like just yesterday, I was bringing my daughter to school for her first day of second grade. Now, we’re poring over  summer camp catalogs and websites trying to figure out what she’s going to be doing while mummy works. She and I both wish I could take the summer off, but I’ve explained that I’d have to be a teacher in order to get those hours, and I’m not prepared to go into that line of work. (I bow and say, “I’m not worthy.”)

Despite the fact that I won’t get eight weeks off to spend with my daughter, I am already making a list in my head of all the things I hope we get to do this summer.

When I was a kid, it seemed like summer went on forever. My mom worked, but only part-time and often from home. Because of this, my sister and I enjoyed an endless parade of unstructured days at home. I spent mine reading, drawing, walking in the nearby woods, and playing with my dog, Boomer. Long hours of slow and quiet activities made the weeks stretch off to distant horizons. It truly seemed like it would never end.

But, of course, it does.

Now that I’m the mom, the summer seems to pounce on me from out of nowhere, and disappear almost as quickly, leaving me with regrets about trips we didn’t take, outings we didn’t have, and lazy afternoons that never materialized. Well, not this year. This year, I’m making a bucket list for summer. I may not fit everything on the list into the few weeks between now and the third grade, but I’m going to do my best to create some special memories. It will take some planning and some serendipitous aligning of the stars. It will mean ditching work once in a while. (And, that’s okay.)

I haven’t finished my list, but here is what I’ve got so far. Love to hear what’s on your summer bucket list – maybe I’ll steal a few of your ideas and add them to my own!

• Dance in the rain, preferably in puddles
• Catch fireflies
• Spend a lazy day swimming in a river and picnicking on the banks
• Climb a mountain
• Spend an entire day reading, playing cards, and journaling
• Make s’mores at a campfire
• Go to a nighttime, outdoor concert
• Use a rainy afternoon to do a few of those art projects we never seem to get to
• Have a lemonade stand
• Go on a whale watch
• Have ice cream for dinner
• See fireworks
• Spend way more days at the beach
• Meet a hobgoblin and a fairy (my daughter added this one)
• Ride the swan boats and feed the ducks in Boston
• Meet elves (that’s my daughter again)
• Go to the zoo
• Have strawberry shortcake for dinner
• Go miniature golfing
• Go to NYC (that’s my daughter … again)
• Fly a kite

Of course, even if we don’t manage to do any of the things on this list, I know that our summer will be full of its own adventures and memories. Even the days when we do nothing at all are special – as long as we spend them together.

What’s on your summer bucket list? 

Image Credit: Martin Rey

At FOBAM, we’re fans of creative “mom-trepreneurs” who not only have great products, but also manage to to make a positive impact by giving back.  Tracey Davidow, a mom of two in Hamilton, MA is doing just that. 

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment below (by midnight EST Tuesday, 4/17/12)  to enter to win one of these adorable gift bags courtesy of the Green Egg.

The Green Egg represents a simple, creative, and thoughtful approach to life that is shared through a stylish yet fun line of hand-stitched tees for children.

Our products are made by hand so no two shirts are exactly the same.  We have an always-growing collection of cute and clever designs to choose from and each tee is 100% cotton and made in the USA.  Our felt appliqués are environmentally responsible – made from 100% post-consumer plastic.

We are very proud to be partnered with the Haiti Projects. This fair trade, non-profit sewing and knitting cooperative does amazing work to empower women in rural Haiti so they can lift themselves – and their families – out of poverty. It’s our goal at The Green Egg to provide as much work as we can to these women artisans. We also provide financial support: $1 for each tee that is stitched in the USA goes to the Haiti Projects.

We like to say that each tee is made with a hug and a stitch with the hopes that you can feel good about your purchase and that the children wearing them will find joy in our creations.

What was your inspiration for The Green Egg?

After I had my son, Charlie, I became frustrated that I couldn’t find any good boys clothes.  Soon after, I found myself on forced bed rest during the last few months of my second pregnancy with my daughter Penny.  Having a background in retail  (I had just sold my children’s shop Mulberry Road in Boston), and a love for all that is creative, I was on the lookout for a new project to keep me occupied. A friend and I started stitching fun, stylish tees for our boys. It was a few years later when my husband and I decided to go back into retail. The Green Egg shop was “hatched” in Manchester-by-the-Sea where we opened our first eco-friendly store full of wonderful products for baby and home. We offered a great selection of unique gifts and fun stylish children’s clothing and soon added my own line of hand-stitched tees to the mix.  I was delighted when the tees that ended up being the biggest seller, basically carrying the store!  Soon, I saw my tees on kids all around town.  Sharing an eco-friendly mission with my customers had always been important to me, and I suddenly realized that the tees had become the symbol of that mission.   I made the tees my focus, moving from the store and basing my business out of a studio close to my home in Hamilton.  I started traveling to gift and retail shows across the country to present the tees to a wider audience…. and to my great relief they like them and the orders started coming in!

What is the Haiti Projects?

The Haiti Projects is a fair trade, non profit, sewing and knitting cooperative located in Fond des Blans, Haiti – a poor mountainous area 75 miles southwest of Port au Prince.  Most of the residents of Fond desBlancs live with their impoverished children on less than one dollar day.  The Haiti Projects was founded in 1995 and registered in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.   Their mission is to provide work and a stable income for women so they can lift themselves – and their families – out of poverty.

How did you connect with the Haiti Project?

I first started supporting the Haiti Projects in my store by selling their products. Later, I packaged their hand-knit baby hats in The Green Egg gift baskets.  I have believed in the cooperative’s mission from day one.  After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, I attended an event to bring greater awareness about Haiti Projects’ rapid expansion in response to the desperate needs of the country.  I realized then that I wanted to do more than just write a check – I wanted to help give these women their livelihood back so they could rebuild their lives and communities.  A few weeks later, The Green Egg received a serendipitous order from a new retailer. The order was much larger than we had ever produced ourselves, so I turned to the Haiti Project to see if we could work together.   A month later The Green Egg sent a sample run to Haiti and the rest is history.  The process continues to evolve and become more efficient and we’re thrilled to be sending more and more work to the women of Haiti.

Right now, The Green Egg is preparing over 6,000 children’s tee shirts to be shipped out April 20th the Haiti Projects.   My home in Hamilton, Massachusetts is the current base for this operation.  Our assembly line of tee shirts and colorful cut-out animals and trucks dominates our dining room. There are boxes piled high everywhere between the kids’ toys in the living room.  I have to admit – I never thought, when I started this little  hand stitched line of eco-friendly tees in 2008, that I would be enlisting the help of women 1,800 miles away, but now I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Why is the partnership with the Haitian women so important to you?

I am in a position, not only to make a life for my family doing something I love but also to give the same opportunity to these other mothers.  The work that we provide to these women – 1,800 miles away – dramatically improves the quality of their lives and communities.

It is The Green Egg’s goal to provide as much work as possible, bringing an income to the women artisans.  The more tees we sell, the more the Haitian women are able to earn.  To us, each tee sold represents another bit of good that we are doing in the world.  I am committed to doing as much as I can to help these women help themselves.

How do you balance work and family?

I am not sure if a true work–family balance exists.  I strive to find it but being a mother of two children – Charlie, 7 years old, and Penny who is six – and in the middle of such an intensive start-up … it can be difficult.  But, I must admit I am fortunate in that The Green Egg is a family effort. My husband Steve is my partner so we are able to share many of the daily responsibilities.  The main mantra we live by is “always make time for the kids and their needs.”  They come first no matter what.  We work hard on The Green Egg when the kids are in school, but once they get home at least one of us gives the kids full attention. When they go to sleep, we go back to work.  So basically, I guess I find balance by sacrificing sleep. There’s no question this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but if we can make this work long-term, it will all be worth it.

Where can people find your product?

Green Egg tees can be found in over 150 select children’s stores including Giggle stores nationwide, ABC Home and Carpet in New York City and also online at www.thegreeneggshop.com

What else are you involved with outside of work?

Beyond The Green Egg, I am also very committed to my children’s local elementary school where I serve on the Cultural Enrichment Programming Committee.   We work hard to bring the school wonderfully engaging programs that help support the learning that is going on in the classroom.   I also  love to do anything outdoors as a family, especially in the winter months. From ice -skating to building snow forts or the occasional day skiing with the kids – that is heaven to me!   Art is clearly a big part of my life, too.  Art books fill my home and serve as inspirations for new ideas. I am always looking for ways to share this passion with my children – by visiting museums, drawing together, or helping them create masterpieces out of scraps of fabric from my studio.  If it is creative and crafty – I’m a fan!

Tracey and her kids, Charlie and Penny

Today’s guest post comes from a very special, first-time author: my eight year-old daughter, Meghan. Having spent much of the holiday weekend and all of Monday toiling in what my friend and colleague likes to call the “word mines,” I was a little short on inspiration when I sat down to write something for all you lovely moms. I decided to call in the reinforcements by asking my daughter to collaborate with me on a post about

What  moms do (according to my daughter, Meghan) … all written by Meghan K W

• My mom TALKS AND TALKS AND TALKS!
• And she also works her ass of all day long. (Editor’s note: I told her she could say that only if it meant I was working my donkey off. We don’t actually have a donkey, but that’s okay … we’re going with it.)
• If my mom won the lottery she would DANCE AND DANCE AND SCREAM!
• I think all moms are hard working! (Editor’s note: I swear, I didn’t tell her to write that.)
• If moms could take over the world it would probably be a little scary as well as cool. (Editor’s note: Really – she came up with this all on her own.)

At this point, my budding author started to lose interest in her writing career and had – while I was running through the shower – strayed from her assignment into the ever-alluring land of Club Penguin. I coaxed her back to the task at hand by offering some prompts:

• When I’m sick, my mom treats me with care.
• When she’s sad, my mom tries not to cry.
• When she’s tired, my mom … puts on her pjs and puts her head down on her desk.
• When she’s mad, my mom …I don’t really remember because it was that long ago
• When she’s being silly, my mom … she laughs.
• When she gets a day off, my mom … she plays with me J “Yay”!
• After I go to bed, my mom … WORKS – boring :/
• When I’m sad, my mom …TELLS ME to stop crying and makes me feel better
• When I ask for a hamster, my mom … says “NO!”
• When my mom wants to look extra pretty, she … asks her INCREDIBLY fashionable daughter (me) for advice on what to wear
• My mom’s mom’s name is JANNIE. She is a writer just like me and my mom. It is just a generation

Meghan Wallace is a smart, savvy, and stylish second grader who loves dogs, cats, birds, fish, lizards, snakes, horses, hamsters … well, all animals really … and thinks she might grow up to be a dog walker, a famous singer, or maybe an FBI agent. (She’s the one on the right … with the better smile.)

Here, in no particular order, is a list of 32 things a mother knows – usually without even trying:

1. How to get rid of under-the-bed monsters
2. Sixteen ways to disguise vegetables
3. That you can’t win an argument with a toddler
4. The kids will not walk the puppy they’re begging you for
5. Santa’s telephone number
6. When she needs to restock the tp supply
7. When her kid is up to no good
8. The location of her child’s favorite stuffed animal/security blanket/woobie
9. When something’s going on at school
10. That hugs and chocolate chip cookies can fix almost anything
11. When to say no
12. How to pack a diaper bag/lunch box/sleepover duffel
13. There is no cure for sibling rivalry
14. Her job will never (ever) be done … and that’s okay
15. They sure don’t teach math the way they used to!
16. The four things her child will always eat
17. You should always kiss the ones you love goodnight. Always.
18. How to talk to imaginary friends
19. The power of Mommy Voice cannot be overrated
20. Looking stupid in front of your kids is par for the course
21. Bumps and bruises are easy to fix. Broken hearts are more challenging.
22. How to pick her battles (… and win)
23. Her children will always be her babies
24. How to use her child’s middle name as a subtle but effective threat
25. Exactly when the baby’s witching hour will kick in
26. That eyes in the back of her head are the least of her super powers
27. A glass of “Mommy Juice” goes a long way towards creating a happy home
28. If there aren’t enough for everyone, don’t admit you have them
29. The worst temper tantrums always happen in public. (The kids’, too.)
30. If you take children someplace without restrooms, they will immediately have to pee.
31. Her parents are secretly laughing behind her back. Payback’s a … well, you know.
32. She won’t always get it 100% right, but she’ll nail it when it matters most.

Your turn: What do you know as a mom? 

I’m sharing with you because I’m fairly confident that even the most product-inept mommy can work with this makeup.   It truly does live up to Bobbi Brown’s philosophy that products should be easy to use, quick to apply, look natural and last.  Everything I experimented with took no time put on and hung on from 9am that morning through my long commute home at the end of the day.

One Long-Wear Cream Shadow color swiped across my lid with a finger went on smoothly, and didn’t smudge or crease.   An application of Long-Wear Eye Pencil at my lash line and in between both my top and bottom lashes (turns out I’ve been incorrectly using eyeliner since the mid-80’s – live and learn, ladies!) made my eyes completely stand out.  And, I loved the Intensifying Long-Wear Mascara.  The tiny brush and the “start at the bottom and wiggle as you go up” technique they taught me was great.  Miraculously, all of it held up throughout the day, even after my sweat-inducing sprint through Penn Station to catch my train.

What I also found really refreshing is that Bobbi Brown herself is kinda just a regular working mom with three boys.  She’s also extremely engaging, as I was close to standing up during her presentation and shouting, “Hallelujah, momma!  Testify!” as she talked about juggling work life and home life, carving out time for herself and lamenting that the only way she can have a cup of coffee, exercise or catch up on current events is if she sets her alarm clock really early.

The Long-Wear Collection lives up to the hype, and goes the distance.   Throw it on in less than five minutes and feel great all day long.  It’s a great investment in feeling good about yourself.

The Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Collection is available now from Bobbi Brown makeup counters and retailers nationwide.

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out – the game changes.

Parenting is not something you can master. Kids change every day. The minute you think you’ve got the perfect solution, they switch things up and leave you scratching your head and wondering what the heck happened. Get used to it. Learn to adapt. Flexibility is your friend.

Your decision-making process has extra steps.

Once upon a time, you could decide what to have for lunch, where to go on vacation, or whether to take that promotion without considering anyone’s needs except your own. Moms don’t have that luxury. As a mom, we run every decision through our internal “kid filter” to see how it will impact our children.

Time is fluid – slowing down and speeding up completely irrational ways. 

Welcome to “mommy time.” Scientists say that, although we perceive it that way, time is not linear. I admit I’m not completely clear on what they mean, but I do know that my perceptions of time changed dramatically once I became a mom. Minutes can seem like hours, and years can seem like days. It’s enough to make your head spin.

You’re never done. 

Don’t try to be. There is simply too much to do, to know, to be. The list of things you must do, should do, and want to do is endless. Motherhood is the ultimate “fully integrated” job. There is no clock to punch and no retirement date on the horizon. It’s cradle to grave – their cradle to your grave.

You have days when you feel like a complete failure. 

Expect them. Don’t waste too much time worrying about them. See the first truth and remind yourself that “this too shall pass.” We all screw up. We all do and say things we wish we hadn’t. But, life goes on and the kids still love us.

You have less time to think and so much more to think about. 

The amount of brain space needed to accommodate all the “mommy stuff” is astounding. Perhaps this is why we sometimes forget seemingly basic information like where we parked the car, our best friend’s phone number, or the dog’s name. It’s okay. Take one thing at a time and it’ll all be all right. Focus on the important stuff and let the rest slide. It’ll come back to you … eventually.

They won’t say thank you until much (much!) later.

Children don’t truly appreciate everything a mom does until they become parents themselves. I know I didn’t. How could I? I had no frame of reference – no first-hand experience. Now that I’m someone’s mom, I get it. Thanks, mom. Really.

You feel life much more deeply. 

Motherhood amplifies our emotions. We experience life more fully and feel everything more deeply. We cry more, but we laugh more too. Becoming a mom can feel like having a veil lifted. Suddenly, the world is revealed to you in all its insanity and beauty and terror and love. It can be scary, but motherhood also brings with it courage and conviction – we get everything we need to handle the new adventure.

Yep. Motherhood is a crazy ride, but it’s comforting to know that some things will never change. It’s good to know that every other mother out there knows what we’re talking about. We are never alone. Thank goodness!

What other universal truths can you add?