The Kind of Mother I Want to Be

It's the last day of public school here in Utah, and I feel like I've gotten to be a fly on the wall as I've observed at least a few mothers' reactions to their children being "let loose" for the summer. As I logged onto Facebook this morning (yes, I admit somewhat shamefully that I actually have a profile), I saw a couple of friends' comments, both very real and understandable, and yet polar opposites of one another. One admitted that she's not ready for school to be out (exclamation, exclamation), and the other declared that she is LOVING (yes, all caps) that today is the LAST (all caps again) day of school for her kids (exclamation).

The experience that was the real clincher for this fly on the wall, though, happened as I was headed out for my morning walk with Eliot. I noticed some big signs in the front windows of one of the houses around the corner from my in-laws'. There had been big signs in the window at the same house announcing a new baby girl, but these ones looked different, so I looked a little more closely. The first ones I saw said, "Welome Home" and "Woo-hoo!!" I figured maybe mom and baby had had some complications and were just getting home from the hospital, but then I caught on to what the signs were really all about when I saw the next signs: "The LAST day of school and your FIRST day of freedom!!" And then the one that actually made me tear up: "You're MINE again!" Yes, I read it and started crying. CRYING.

I have yet to meet that mom (and I can't wait to get the chance), but I already love her. I love who she is and what she's doing and what she stands for. I love how much she obviously loves her children, and I love how much I can only imagine they love her. Seriously, can you IMAGINE having a mom like that who celebrates getting to have you home for the whole summer?!

Actually, I can imagine. Because I see friends who do the same thing (like my friend who is LOVING that today was her kids' last day at school). And I have a mom who felt that way about us. How on earth she felt that way about having us home all summer long, with all of the fighting and screaming and hair-pulling we did, I'm not really sure, but she did. She loved having us around. She would often celebrate the last day of school with us and take us out for lunch or an ice cream. And she would celebrate throughout the summer, too. Even to the extent of taking us out for twist cones at Hardees on many a summer evening, followed by "cruising" past our latest crushes' houses, again and again, radio blaring, windows down, giggles galore. Mom was (and still is) one of us girls. She chose to be our friend first, to be at all of those crucial crossroads for us, and I love her immensely for that. Just like I love every other mother, like that sweet soul who posted those signs in her window today, who loves and celebrates and cherishes being a mother.

THAT is the kind of mother I want to be.