Kids say the darndest things…..just yesterday my dear son informed me that he was not, in fact, in need of a bath. Forget that he was covered head to toe in campfire soot, dirt, and a bit of blood. No, he did not need a bath because he did not have ‘barnacles.’ Yes, barnacles. The audacity of me, thinking he was dirty.  Oh my, the boy does make me laugh.

I wish I could remember every cute thing they say. I kept a ‘cute sayings’ journal for a while…til I lost it. Along with my mind. I do remember one day when another son came running into my room to inform me that there was a horse in the neighbors yard. sure there is…..I humored him and came when he told me. Fully expecting nothing close to a horse, I was shocked to see a full grown mare chomping grass right across the fence. To quote another son , “now, that’s not something you see every day.”

My children have been the absolute joy of my life. They make me laugh, they make me cry, they make me proud, they make me want to run from the world screaming…..it’s all good. I think sometimes what my life would be like had I not chosen to be a mother. I can’t really even comprehend that. More specifically, I can’t imagine ever being happy had I not become a mother. Being a mother makes everything a bit richer. My marriage was made better by children. My aging, saggin body was made beautiful by children. Old stories become new when told to children. Laugh lines grow deeper, smiles grow wider, memories become brighter…..all through children.

Some say that children are our legacy. They are what will make us live on after we are done here. I say, children are our lives. Here and now. They are what make us live today. What purpose would I have if not to raise my children? I remember an interview with Pat Benetar where she said that when she had a child she finally realized the purpose of women. How true. How wonderful. How honorable. Nothing can compare to being a mother.

You may wonder what brought this rambling topic on mother’s to a front. Well….I’ll tell you. I just watched a short video on a mother that is still breast-feeding her 8 year old child. (dramatic pause) I love my kids more than life itself, but there is no way on this earth I would breast feed them til they were that old. This woman is insane and needs to be locked up. And her kids? Look out world….I have a feeling the weirdness is just beginning…….cuz I said so.