Honoring [Laboring] Mothers [On Labor Day]

I was over on MyBrownBaby this weekend, when I came across a post wishing a Happy Labor Day to the  hardest laborers of them all -- Moms.

Reading that post, brought me back to a post that I'd written a few months back honoring Mothers. I often hear the words, "I don't know how you do it, Alicia." But truth be told, I don't know how all Mothers do it. The task, at times, seems impossible. And yet, Mothers complete it as diva multi-taskers. Amazingly. Humbly. Gracefully.

So, on this Labor Day, this post is dedicated to you. I hope you know how much you are appreciated and that your labor is not in vain.


This Goes Out To You (originally published on November 27, 2010)

This has been a very trying week and I'm so glad it's over! Whew! *wipes forehead*

I was so sick -- fever, dizzy spells, cough, sore throat, that overall and awful feeling of aches and pains. It was brutal. I finally began feeling a little better on Thanksgiving, and today I feel almost 100% better. Being sick sucks. Being a single mom who's sick... sucks big time.

Being sick this week brought me back to a couple weeks ago -- smack in the middle of October -- when I was overworked, overwhelmed, and over-exhausted with school, work, motherhood, everything.

I usually try to do everything that I do gracefully, and this time was no exception. But trying to get through 5 classes of midterms and papers and an MA project oh my! -- all while trying to stay safe and sane as a single mom and help my Aiden make sense of his world was hectic. And not at all easy.

At one point during the madness, I felt like I was going to have a breakdown. I was so totally and completely tired. It's insane what sleep deprivation can do to ya! At that point, I was not functioning as my best self. At all. I looked like crap, felt like crap, and needed sleep. Period.

But thankfully, I finished all the papers and presentations, and took all of the midterms. When it was all over, I was finally able to get some sleep and wowza! It's incredible what a full night's sleep can do for ya!

It amazes me at how mothers do all that they do. And so gracefully and seemingly effortlessly.

So this post goes out to you.

To stay-at-home moms: I commend you for being with your children all day and not go insane. You rock!

To working moms: I applaud you for giving your all at work, somehow re-fueling on the way home, and then giving your all yet again. You rock!

To young moms: I'm so impressed that you can take care of someone else while still trying to grow and figure out who you are. You rock!

To single moms: I admire that you can raise kids without having anyone to pass them off to when the going gets rough, yet still be able to keep your sanity. You rock!

The bottom line? Moms rock.

With all its super-human requirements, at times it seems as though motherhood is not a job for mere mortals. And yet, you've somehow figured out how to get the job done. Gracefully. And lovingly.

Happy Labor Day Mommies! As Denene Millner says, "Labor aint for wimps... And every mother knows, too, that the real labor comes not in becoming a mom, but being one."