How to win Mom of the Year

I wanted to be the best Mom in the universe. The ultimate Mom. To decorate like that friend, to dress like that one, to be cool and fun like my aunt, to be sensitive and wise like that storybook character, to have a figure like the movie mom, to bake like that neighbor….

Can you guess how that is working out for me? Ever chase down standards others have set, or at least you imagine they hold and then find out your own kids don’t care?

It was a humbling moment when I realized I needed to care more about what this specific child needed than what it would look like on Pinterest.

My life isn’t about a worldwide popularity contest with generic categories. My life and yours is about nurturing specific people, with names and faces, right in front of us.

Study those people carefully and you will find the keys to winning the “Mother of a Lifetime” Award from the only ones who can nominate us anyway.

You can do this!