Today is May 9, 2021 and it’s Mother’s Day.

The day is the celebration of not just mothers, but motherhood, maternal bonds. The beauty is it, even though for some it means celebrating the traditional definition of mothers, there are so many variations that are honored. Mothers who have given birth, surrogate, adoption, step mothers, grandmothers, aunts, godmother, friend, four legged…it doesn’t matter, if there is a bond, there is a bond.

I’ve always loved children, doesn’t matter who they are, as PSM would say, I’m like a moth drawn to a flame! Why lie, he’s right! I am known by so many amazing titles, and I wouldn’t trade any one of them. I remember when my sister told me she was pregnant, my first question was “Can I get the Halloween costume?” Her answer… “Yes, if you don’t, it might not happen”! That’s where it started! I’m auntie J to not just my sister’s kids, I’m auntie G to Miss A, and you know I am honored by the title. What I loved about living in Hawai’i is being called auntie instead of ma’am! I’m JJ to my grandkids, a title I wear with pride, in case you weren’t sure!

I will never forget the day I became a mom, a step mom, to TYHL was 8 and WCH had just turned 7 and I fell in love. They were funny, silly, goofy, smart, the list goes on. There are things that happen when you become a new parent, I don’t know if it happens to all parents, but…for those of you that know me, I used to be an incredibly heavy sleeper, I didn’t hear anything, but as soon as my kids started staying over, I felt like I had new mom syndrome, ha ha. I would check on them while they were sleeping, make sure they were still breathing! they were 7 and 8, they were fine! I would hear them turn over in their sleep. I woke up the minute they stirred, I knew I had to be alert if they needed me. The oddest thing, I don’t think it happens to everyone, but I have heard that some women’s feet go up a size when they give birth, here’s the thing…I didn’t give birth, but as soon as I became a mom, my feet went up half a size! I had been a size 7.5 since I was in the 7th grade and at 25, I went up to an 8, what?!

The way I am with my my kids, nieces and nephews, and grandkids, I inherited from my mom. What a woman and mother she was, welcoming, open, loving, silly, hugs for days, and so much more. When I’m hugging someone I sometimes feel like I’m channeling her, one of the ways is when I get half a hug from someone, I’m like ‘that’s not enough! full hug, two hands all the way around’ and it feel amazing, it’s like she’s right there with me and I know she is. I see it at those moments, when I look in the mirror! What a woman, yup, that’s about right!

Today was great. I got up early, no idea why, but…there was a huge thunderstorm happening and you know Ruby…so I let the girls out of the crate and snuggled up with them on on of their beds until PSM got up. After walking the dogs and giving them breakfast, it was our turn! We went to one of our favorite breakfast places, The Shack and it was packed! We were lucky to find seats at the bar with our favorite bartender/server Kelly. Breakfast was great, we laughed, got silly, chatted, laughed, ate some good grub, what more could you want?!

Back to the house, more snuggling with the dogs, until PSM came home from running an errand. He brought me a bouquet of flowers and a very funny card that sang to me from him, Bee, and Ruby, it said “Woof, Woof, Woof!” ! I was lucky enough to receive a great card from my sister, b-i-l, EJS, MGS, and their dog Bailey, thank you! Flowers from my dad, with two of my favorite flowers, daisies and roses, and they came in a happy face emoji vase! Ha ha. It was a rainy, blah day, so a treat…snuggle in our bed with the pups, I had to get up, they didn’t seem to mind…they hung out until we told them it was time to get up!

We ended up going to a restorative yoga class, it was only a few poses, but definitely felt restored! We got smoothies on the way home, watched Guardians of the Galaxy, hung out with the dogs some more, I’m talking to you and soon…zzzzzz. Oh! Cannot forget all the texts back and forth from friends and family, that made me smile!

Whatever you did today, if you celebrated Mother’s Day or Sunday, or May 9th, I hope it was a fabulous day!