Dear Mom,

Thank you.

You’re rolling your eyes at me as I say that, I know. Oh, honey, you’re saying. We’ve had this conversation a thousand times since I became a mother myself, and it has always plays out in exactly the same way.

Thank you, thank you, I didn’t know, I couldn’t know, how hard this was. Thank you, I say.

And you say, you have always been the joy of my life, sweetie; I always wanted this, even when it was hard.

And then you say, I’m really glad that they gave us tranquilizers back then.

That you so loved motherhood was your greatest gift to me. That you were irreverent about motherhood was your second greatest.

(Read the rest over here.We’re celebrating Mother’s Day by celebrating leaning in to motherhood, and by recognizing the extraordinary women that are our own mothers. We hope that it will inspire you to thank your own mother, or the mother who most inspires you.)