May 11, 2014: I Love Being Awesome

So tomorrow (oh, it's late enough now, I guess it's today) is Mother's day.
I love being a mom.  This motherhood thing took me by surprise, but it's the best surprise I've ever had.
Watching my kid grow up has been like holding up a mirror to myself and my husband.  I've learned a lot about myself.  I've learned a lot about me.
I haven't been proud of every moment I've had as a mother.  I can honestly say, though, that I have never not been proud of my daughter and the amazing young woman she is becoming.  I have never appreciated my own  mother more.  And I've also come to appreciate my aunts, my mother's friends, my friends' mothers, my dear friends, all of whom loved me like I was one of their own, and accepted me into the huge family that it takes to raise a child.  I hope that I've lived up to my mother's hopes for me both as a daughter and now as a mother.
Having said all of that, earlier tonight, when E was on her way to bed, I stopped her and said to her, "I love being your mother.
Her response?  "I love being awesome."

And that, my friends, is the best part about being a mom.

(Later on, when she was in her bed, reading on her Kindle, this conversation also happened:

Me: you know what the best part about being a mom is?
E: what?
Me: having you for a daughter.
E: mmmhmm, yeah, sure.


I think our attempts to instill in her a sense of self-esteem have worked.)