First thing yesterday morning was a  chorus of "Happy Mother's Day" and the beaming faces of my husband and 7 year old. Waiting in the breakfast room were flowers from my husband  and gifts from my son, carefully selected at the garage sale across the street and paid for with his own piggy bank money. The Mother's Day celebration was underway and what a truly wonderful day it was.

I think the most common tag line for Mother's Day is "Let Her Know She's Special".  I am all for helping husbands and children remember the day. The barrage of Mother's Day ads has saved many a husband from a late night/early morning/sometime during Mother's Day trip to the grocery store, sweating while frantically searching for the lone Mother's Day card hiding behind the Sponge Bob 8th Birthday, hoping there's an evelope that will fit while simultaneously wondering if the water toys on the end caps could pass for a gift. That said, the most precious Mother's Day gift is the gift of family. I asked my son yesterday if he knew what my favorite gift was. Very matter of factly, he replied "me" and he was right. Although each day might not come with flowers, gifts, cards and a fancy lunch, each and every day of being a mother is truly a blessing and a privilege. Granted, there are the "hidden blessing" days. Every parent has them. They can include a delighted child showing how you have all new makeup colors because he mixed everything together so you just have one thing and usually coincide with a day when the washer does its best whale spout imitation or the nine month old puppy has eaten your eyeglasses. Those days, however, are far outweighed by the joy of the rest of them. The rest are the days when your little one's face lights up with the biggest smile in the world, he suggests an impromptu picnic in the front yard or makes a special recipe consisting of Cheerios, Special K, chocolate chips, salt, pepper and cheese, begs to stop and help a lost cat because helping someone is more important than being on time, works really hard to accomplish something or simply puts his arms around you and says "I love you, Mommy".  As moms, we may have our own day on the calendar, but every day we experince the gift of our children, it's a mother's day.