To be a Mom

To be a mother, all you need is a child, or a child-like-entity (some mothers would label husbands as child-like-entities, I can proudly say that my husband would not fit in this category most days. Just when he is sick).

But to really be a mom takes more than that.
It means waking up at 2 am to feed the baby.
It means dealing with poop and puke on everything.
It means answering all the why questions no matter how many there are.
It means having the patience to teach them lessons they really don't want to learn.
It means letting them learn for themselves.
It means allowing them to deal with the natural consequences of their choices.
It means accepting you can't control their lives, and loving them even when they don't 'choose the right'.
It means giving of yourself to make them happy.
To be a mom means to love your children unconditionally.

As moms we still get upset. We have our good days and our bad days. We may yell at them, ground them, take away their car, or threaten to sell them to the zoo. But at the end of the worst possible day you still love them, you watch the 'angels' sleep, and you wouldn't trade them for the world.

I think that this is what it means to truly unconditionally love. To be a Mom.