Mama's Gift: How to Be the Best Mom Ever

My mom is the best mom in the world. You may argue that fact, but you don't know my mom. She is the BEST mom ever. All mom's wear many hats, but my mom, she wore them all...the biggest hat she wore was that of a teacher.

My mom is a teacher. Not in the traditional sense, standing in front of a classroom full of kids. We were her students; the world was her classroom.

She taught me how to cook from scratch. She took the time to show me step by step how to make the best cream gravy in the world. She taught me how to make things that women my age still don't know, so that I could always take care of myself.

She taught me pride. To always take pride in anything I do. To always do my best and that courage doesn't mean you're not scared, it means facing things even though you are scared.

Mom taught me how to work. I have never seen anyone in my life work as hard as she does. She has always worked more than one job and gone to school, all the while making sure she spent time with us and going to everything we did, no matter how small.

She also taught me how to be an adult, to be responsible, how to balance a check book, how to give to others, share what you have, (even if it's not much), and the right way to do a cart wheel.

And most of all, she taught me to always trust God in all things.

Of all the teachers I've had, of all the classes I've taken and things that I've learned, no one taught me as much as my mom. The most important thing she ever taught me though, was how to be a mom. It's not anything she sat down and talked to me about. It was in her day to day comings and goings that taught me how to be a mom. I think the biggest one was this...

Every Mother's Day, my brother and I made Mom french toast and gave her breakfast in bed. Years later, in a random IHOP in Texarkana sometime after the witching hour, I ordered french toast. Mom said, "I hate french toast." I stopped mid bite and looked at her like she grew a second head. "But we made you french toast every year and you ATE it and you never said you didn't like it!!!"

Mom just smiled and said "I know".

My mind reeled. And it was then I realized how much my mother loved us and how much she really gave up for us, that sacrificing something for someone you love isn't really a sacrifice. That loving your child isn't about what you buy, it's about what you give. She taught me how to really love your child. And in doing that, she taught me how to be the best mom ever.