Happy Mother's Day
As a little girl, I couldn't wait to grow up and become a mom. I played with baby dolls, taking them everywhere with me, changing diapers that were never full, putting them to sleep at times I thought were appropriate. I'd hold them, cuddle them, kiss them, and whisper sweet nothings into their ears because I wanted them to feel how I did when those things happened to me.
Perhaps I was trained to want to become a mom when I grew up, or maybe it was being nurtured by someone who poured so much into me that I'd one day want to do the same. I may never know. But, I do know that if I'm blessed with a blessing or blessings of my own, that I will take the lessons you've given me and apply them one hundred times over.
I wonder so often how you knew how to mother. How you knew what was good for me in the long run. How you were always right in those situations. I wonder how you knew when the right time to let me soar was and how you knew that I wouldn't fall once you did. And if I did fall, how you knew what to do to reassure me that I'd fly again. Mothering seems and looks so scary, but when I look at you and how you have done it...are doing it...it looks effortless.
I've asked you over the years at what age do children realize that their parents are human beings and not just mom or dad. I think I'll forever wonder because there are so many moments where I forget and have to remind myself again. I forget not because I'm disregarding you or your feelings, but I forget because you are more superhero than any comic book could ever depict. You do not wear a visible cape or shoot laser from your eyes, but you repeatedly save the day and do so by just being you. I think that Marvel got it wrong. I don't think that superheroes are supernatural creatures....even though you do have some supernatural abilities...but I think that they wear their authentic selves, understanding that the best version of themselves may not always be what they want. I think that superheroes are the ones who make something from nothing, who find the solutions in an impossible situation, who find the right words when nothing sounds good enough.
Superheroes make you feel that you are enough.
Mothers don't get enough credit for being mothers. I will argue this until the day that I die. You carry us in your womb, you deliver us, you hold us, nurture us, love us, instill morals and goodness to propel us into the world. And yet, we sum this up...we sum up all you do...into a single day and tie it off with a pretty ribbon. But in truth, motherhood isn't always pretty. We shouldn't tie it off with a bow. We shouldn't pick just one day.
Because you deserve to be celebrated every day.
You deserve to be reminded that your efforts do not go unnoticed. That what you did to get us here is appreciated. That your sacrifices are received. That we love and honor you way more than we can verbally ever say.
You may not always get it right, but you got it right with me.
Because if I become even half the person that you are one day, I will have succeeded. And you will have succeeded because I am nothing if it weren't for you.
One day, I will watch my daughter carry her baby doll around. I will watch her cradle it with tenderness and love. I will listen to her tell it that she loves it and will always protect it. And I will pray that she looks up at me with eyes overfilled with love, admiration, and the desire to also one day be a great mother like the one she has. I will pray that she always looks at me the way that I look at you....
....because, Mom. I will always look at you as if you put the sun in the sky to brighten my day and the stars at night to guide me back home. You are...you always have been...and always will be...the biggest blessing a girl could ever ask for.
Happy Mother's Day.
May your day be ever filled with love, light, and of course, an abundance of chicken tenders💜🌻✨
Cheyenne Pajardo