Sorry, Mom

My mom gave me a card for Mother's Day that said, "A summary of motherhood: Holy crap. This is hard. The End." Couldn't have said it better myself. Don't get me wrong. I love being a momma, and, to quote my good friend Shannon, "my worst day as a mom is better than my best day at my job." However, it IS wicked hard, and every day I find myself thinking, 'I really should apologize to my mom for all those mean things I said to her when I was a teenager.' After all, she changed my diapers, washed my clothes, cleaned up my messes, caught my spit up in her hands, chased me around the house, fed me, bathed me, carried me on her hip while she cooked dinner, endured hours of crying, gave up sleep for 18 years (I've heard that you sleep even less when they are teenagers), and, oh there was that unmedicated 24 hour labor and delivery thing she did too. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. When I was 5, she consoled me when I accidentally stepped on and killed Fluffy, the class hampster. Then, in the 6th grade, I threatened to jump out of a moving car after I found out I had to change schools.  My mom was my best friend that year; she watched me cry myself to sleep countless nights and coaxed me to befriend the friendless at school. She was there for me in the 9th grade when I had my heart broken for the first time, and, then, fell asleep crying on the couch with me 6 years later when it was time for me to be the heart breaker. During my freshman year of high school, she stayed up all night with me and my best friend Lisa to help us finish the infamous leaf project, and that same October, she pulled another all nighter to make mums for all my friends. And I'm just getting started. She was a party planner, a mediator, a nurse, a taxi driver, a lifeguard, a teacher, a homeroom mom, a hair dresser, a travel agent, a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, and one hec of a wedding planner. Now that I'm a momma, I am starting to understand just what it is that she did for me, and all I want to say is, "Sorry, Mom. I never knew, but now I do."  So, Mom, if you're reading this, I hope you know how thankful I am for you and how much I love you. I hope it was worth it. Then again, I guess I'm  not that sorry, because judging by my experience so far, it totally was.