For all the mothers……..

If you send this to just one person, it should make it all the way around the world by Mother's Day.

This is for all the mothers who froze their buns off  on metal bleachers at  football games Friday night instead of watching from  cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't  have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who have sat up all  night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry  Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here."

 For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers  who sat in front of their  TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came  home from school, safely.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make  cookies and sew Halloween  costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.

What makes a good Mother anyway?  Is it patience? Compassion?  Broad hips?  The ability to nurse a baby,  cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?  Or is it heart?

Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or  daughter disappear down  the street, walking to school alone for the very first time?

The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 a.m. to  put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a school shooting, a fire, a car accident, a baby dying?

So this is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies.

This is for reading "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night  for a year. And then reading it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers Who yell at their kids  in the grocery store and swat them in despair and stomp their feet like a  tired 2-year old who wants  ice cream before dinner.

This is for all the mothers who taught their  children to tie their shoelaces before they started school.
And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

For all the mothers who bite their lips sometimes  until they bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green. Who lock  themselves in the bathroom when babies keep crying and won't stop.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair  and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

 This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their  own offspring are at  home.

 This is for mothers who put pinwheels and teddy bears on their children's  graves.

 This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the  words to reach them.

 This is for all the mothers who sent their sons to  school with stomach  aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get  calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up, Right away.

 This is for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation.

 And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

 Mothers with money, mothers without.

 This is for you all. So hang in there.

 Please pass along to all the moms in your life.

 "Home is what catches you when you fall - and we all fall."

 Please pass this to a wonderful mother you know. 

 HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL OF YOU!