A Week of Thanksgiving, Part II

As a child, I didn't play with dolls. I did, however, have a beloved teddy bear, for whom my grandmother and mother made clothes.

As a teen, I didn't love babysitting. There was one family, however, for whom I actually enjoyed it. I watched their three children every week for a year.

As an adult, I determined that since I didn't really have an affinity for small children, I probably shouldn't have any of my own. Gratefully, however, my o adwn personal Jiminey Cricket told me otherwise.

I adore being a mom. Today I am grateful not just for my kids but for everything being a mother allows me to feel, to be, to say, to experience.

I love being a mom for the excuses it gives me to relive favorite parts of my childhood without having to explain why.

I love being a mom for the fact that my daughters think I am the greatest human being (next to their daddy) on the planet ... and don't care that the world thinks otherwise. Somehow it makes having a lumpy stomach, chronic dark circles under my eyes and a cheering section in the bathroom when I pee all worth it.

I love being a mom for the excuses it gives me to learn or ponder about subjects in which I haven't been interested since childhood - what kind of bird makes a home in our backyard (a mocking bird), what kind of noises giraffes make (turns out they are mute - thanks to Erin for that!) or which monster on Sesame Street is my favorite (Grover).

I also love being a mom for how close it brings me to divinity. Some say that women are the scorned lot of Christianity in those religions that don't "allow" women to hold the highest levels of authority. I counter that my place as a co-creator and bearer of children is as close to divinity as a flawed human being can get. Through being a mother I've learned about unconditional love, about truly voluntarily bearing the pain and burdens of others, of wanting to be better than you already are, of true sacrifice - the kind that you take on without making big sighing noises and rolling your eyes.

Most of all, I love being a mom for the moments when Pebbles sighs and snuggles into me after her tummy is full or for the times when, like last night, Woodstock pipes up from the back seat and says, "I'm so happy mom!"

This week of Thanksgiving, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to be a mom, I realize it is truly a gift not to be taken for granted.