"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough."
Meister Eckhart
I have been talking with friends-those with grown children, adult children-about how heart breaking it is sometimes to have them fly out of the nest, but how awesome it is to have them come back and as adults, in some way, shape or form, say thank you. It swells our hearts and is really one of the most gratifying parts of child rearing.
We moms are hard on ourselves-we are quick to look back and say "I wish..". I wish I wouldn't have wasted time on this, I wish I would have trusted my gut more on that, if I had known it would be ok I wouldn't have worried so much, if I had known that would have happened I would have concentrated more on this and on and on. There isn't anyone alive who lives truly without regret-I once wrote a post on living without regret, and realize now in my older age, it's something that, if we are being honest with ourselves, is completely unavoidable. Or if we remain closed minded and ignorant maybe it is possible-but life is about a long journey of learning and no one learns without mistakes, doing, being, trying equals mistakes made a long the way. The effort is what counts in the end.
I want the hard working moms with young ones to know that one day they will experience the same thing-your effort and the time you put into your children, every day, will not go unnoticed or unappreciated. It is so important-I know that now more than ever-it truly is what counts in the long haul. That means sometimes making choices that are completely unselfish and self-donative and that often means long days and even longer nights and also some huge sacrifices but it never means perfection-because perfect parenting doesn't exist.
The acknowledgement of gratitude and appreciation of all that work and time and effort and love is so touching-it means they see us, they notice us who we are to them and what we did and the difference it made in their lives.
(So go thank your mother. Thank you Mom!)
