When you are a mom, every day is Mother's Day.....

On an early August morning 26 years ago, I gained 7 pounds 3 ounces of wisdom I couldn't get any way other than having my first child. Suddenly, I had a window into the world of my mom, and it's been a journey unlike any other ever since.

Until you become a mother, you have no way to know what it feels like, and once you are a mother, you cannot go back to the ignorant bliss that you once enjoyed. It is a turning of the kaleidoscope, a quantum change in your universe. For better and for worse, you are a mother for life, and it's a wonderful, scary, overwhelming, joyful, terrifying, beautiful thing.

My own mother engaged in false advertising. She made it look so easy, the ups and downs of parenting. Perhaps it is better that way - perpetuating the illusion, so the human race doesn't die out.

But it is not easy, this parenting gig. I think that's the real reason we celebrate high school graduation with such gusto. We are celebrating our own survival as much as their passage into adulthood, and it's a big deal for all concerned.

It is hard to believe how quickly the years have passed in my transformation from Mama to Mommy to Mooooom to Mom. I have always done my best to raise my children to understand what is expected from them, in life, in love, in friendship, in work, in whatever place they find themselves. I have worked hard to model appropriate behavior in friendship, love, employment and free time. I have worked hard, loved much, cared deeply, embraced the life I have been given in whatever circumstances I find myself. I hope those lessons have been noted and will be acted upon.

I have made many mistakes - sadly, there is no one "right" answer to parenting, and I have made full use of trial and error. I have yelled when I should have listened. I have hesitated where I should have led. I have failed to rise to the occasion where I should have, and I have barged into situations that would have been best left alone. I have protected when I should have exposed, and allowed more when less would have been better.

I have always believed that children are born with their personality already formed, and my job has been to direct and guide and advise, coaching them as they head onto the playing field of life. As they reach adulthood, I am no longer as much an active participant, and the life lessons they have learned and had modeled will have to suffice.

It is hard, letting go of the leadership role, and becoming a passive observer. But it is rewarding as well, because that is when you see the results of the job you have done. And far more often than not, you will find those results exceed your wildest dreams. It is thrilling and rewarding. It makes every sour moment even sweeter, because you know what you have overcome.

My mother has been the perfect role model for me all my life. From the moment she plucked me out of my uncertain beginnings until this day, she has been the constant element in a life unevenly lived. She is always there with her love, support, wisdom, strength and courage, and she has set an impossible bar for me to reach in my own parenting.

I have watched my mother struggle through every hardship life could throw her way, and she remains optimistic, cheerful, faithful, undaunted by any obstacle. She is amazing and ridiculously wonderful, and I will never deserve her, but will always be eternally grateful to call her my own.

I am also most fortunate in my own children, who have provided me with life lessons galore, and have taught me patience and wisdom and courage and selflessness in ways I could never have imagined. Their sorrows weigh on my heart like an anchor, and their joys make my spirit soar. They have uplifted me when I was down, and pulled me along in their wake when I felt like sinking.

In the journey of life, mothers and children are about more than simply parenting. We get something from the relationship we cannot find anywhere else. No matter how far we go, no matter how long we are separated, even death cannot break the bonds that are formed when our mothers shower us with their love and attention.

One year ago, I watched my daughter walk out of her childhood and into her life as an adult. She has transformed, utterly, into a young woman who is everything I ever hoped for, and a whole lot more of which I never even dared to dream.

She has found her direction, she has embraced her passion for living, she has struggled and survived and fulfilled and exceeded. She has learned to be independent and organized and self-directive and successful, and she has done it on the strength of her own character.

Seven years ago, my son made the same walk that began his transformation, and it has been equally amazing. Although his path has been entirely his own, it has been exhilarating to see him becoming the young man I always knew he could be. He is following his dreams, and his path, while uneven, is moving ahead. It is impossible to ask for more than seeing your child graze the stars he is reaching for with his fingertips.

Watching your child succeed and achieve is the most delicious thing life has to offer, and I am thrilled to have tasted it, twice over. I am truly blessed in my children, and I think I have my mother to thank for the relationship I have with them today.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the mothers who make that day possible, and to all the children who make that day one worth celebrating. Mothers and their children are truly a reason to celebrate, every day!