I just finished reading this amazing book, I am a Mother, written by Jane Clayson Johnson. She is the former co-host of the Early Show on CBS and obviously a wonderful person inside and out. Mike gave me this book for Mother's Day and it has changed my life. In it's few pages, she tells amazing stories of Motherhood, and her story of the hard time in her life when she left CBS to stay home. In the last 2 years since I quit work, I have had a very hard time staying home and being a mom. Now this comes from someone who wanted nothing short of that growing up! All I ever talked about was having a bunch of babies, doing housework, making awesome dinners and taking my kids to soccer practice. I thought being a mom would come so easy to me, but it didn't and I am still getting used to it everyday(does it come easy to anyone though?!). Some days I will admit that I wish I could go back to work tomorrow(and am a little jealous at times of my friends who do!), but I know that the time for me to do that is not right now. Through a lot of faith and time things have not become "easier"(because I wouldn't call motherhood "easy"!) but have become more fun, rewarding and I am figuring out what works for me, Mike, the kids and our family as a whole. I've also realized it is definitely all about the journey, taking one day at a time and finding the joy in motherhood. I look at my kids every morning and can't believe how blessed I am that they are mine forever. They teach me so much.
Jane Clayson talks about all the different kinds of motherhood, but that we are ALL mothers. No matter what you do ~ work, stay home........work and stay home........whatever we choose is what is right for us and we need to support each other as women in all our different decisions in life. Here is an excerpt from her book that I love....sorry it is long!

"At church, I watched the mothers with six, seven, eight children......so beautifully coiffed and so perfectly lined up in the pew. How in the world do they do it? I thought. I had new appreciation and compassion for the single mother who had little or no support; the mother of three teenagers whose husband was on his second lengthy military tour overseas; the mother who deftly juggled work and family life; the mother who gave up an exciting career advancement to labor full time at home. There seemed to be as many different ways to mother as there were shoes in my friend Phyllis's expansive closet.
As I began to pay more careful attention to all of the mothers around me and reflected on my own decision to leave my career behind - to trade in sleek stilettos for a pair of sturdy running shoes - I realized I wasn't the only woman with a story. There are a lot of shoes in the closet!
Each of us has a story; we each wear the shoes that best fit our circumstances and personalities. We may have one child or ten children, we may be married or divorced, we may be school teachers or law students, PTA volunteers or community board members. Every story is different, but each includes a common thread: We are all mothers. We love our children. We love the Lord, and we want our children to love Him, too. We are sisters!"
At the end she says, "Sisters, I believe this. I have witnessed it over and over again - in my own life, in my girlfriends' lives, and in the lives of the many women I have had the honor of meeting around the world. We are all mothers. Every day we take part in amazing stories about "ordinary" women who perform the extraordinary work of motherhood. Every day is the perfect day to find someone who can be loved, guided, taught, uplifted and inspired."

I am so happy we are all different and can help each other with our different motherhood strategies. We all need each others help to stay true to ourselves and raise our little ones in this hard world. Thanks to all my awesome mommy friends(and especially my mommy!) ~ from growing up, college, all my family and our great neighborhood ~ you have taught me so much!

I think this sounded like a church talk, so sorry. I just loved this book and have thanked Mike many times for choosing it. He knows me too well!