Happy Mother's Day!!!

Today's post is dedicated to the mother's of "sick" kids.  This does not mean Cystic Fibrosis only.  I mean any mother who is raising a child with any type of "issue" whether it is physical, mental or emotional.

Parenting is tough.  From my few years as a step mother I have learned how difficult it can be, and I didn't even start off with a baby!  I was lucky enough to take on an 8 year old (though the older they are the more issues they come with too since you can't "mold" to your liking lol) and skip the diapers, potty training and terrible twos.  There is a lot of give (you) and take (them) and not much reward.  It truly is a thankless job.  And now that we have a teenager in the house, it is even harder.  You can see the young child in them struggling to override those awful hormones, but hormones win 90% of the time!  At the end of the day, it is still a great job.

For those mothers out there who deal with all of these things and then they raise a child with an illness, well you are saints.  So here is a little thank you from me to you (not all encompassing since I know I will miss a few!).

Thank you for:

taking us to all those doctor appointments
not letting us dwell on our illness
letting us live our lives
not keeping us bubbled up
feeding, clothing, bathing etc us when we were sick
telling us it would be ok
visiting us in the hospital
holding our hands when we got bad news (and good news!)
raising awareness and money for us
fighting for us in schools for what we needed to succeed
watching us grow into the people we are today because of you
helping us figure ourselves out
not letting us give up
being the best support system we could ask for
hugs
kisses
love
kindness
the kick in the ass we needed when we rebelled against the illness
knowing the illness didn't define us and letting us figure out what did
watching as our dreams came true
watching as our dreams crashed down (and holding our hands)
lifting us up
bringing us back to reality
nagging us to do our meds
nagging us to eat
nagging us to play outside
nagging us to be responsible
and well, just EVERYTHING


Please post any thank yous in the comments.

And thank you MOMS!!! (and single dads who have to do both!!!)