Happy Independence Day!

A to Z - Love

I'm going to talk a bit today about a mother's love. Having children changed my life in way I could never have anticipated. People can talk to an expectant mother but it's not until she bonds with her child that she really understands the depth.

Following is by Erma Bombeck--loved her humor and her heart.

Some day when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a mother, I will tell them:

I loved you enough to ask about where you were going, with whom and what time you would get home.

I loved you enough to insist that you buy a bike, that we could afford to give you, with your own money.

I loved you enough to make you return a Milky-Way—with a bite out of it—to the drug store and to confess “I stole this.”

I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that would have taken me 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, disgust and tears in my eyes.

I loved you enough to admit I was wrong and ask for your forgiveness.

I loved you enough to let you stumble, fall and hurt.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say NO when you hated me for it. That was the hardest part of all.

I found that one of the hardest things about my children growing up was when I went from being the brightest, funnest, most beautiful woman around to being the stupidest creature God put on the earth.

The pendulum has (generally) swung back the other direction, and now my children have a more balanced and practical view of me. It's just proof that you need to hang in there. The terrible twos do turn into the terrible teens--except then they can drive. But the teens years, for all their volatility, can be an amazing journey of discovery and decision.

Maybe that's why I enjoy reading YA so much.

How about you? You've got children and/or you've been a child. How powerful have you found a mother's love to be?