mother’s day is a weird holiday for me.

it should be right? after all, i’m a guy. it’s not about me. my day comes in june.

but it’s weird for a few reasons.
first, my mom died the day after mother’s day when i was 13. so that brings up an underlying subtext to the day. even though it was many years ago, and i don’t carry the grief as heavily as i once did, on some level, probably subconsciously, it still affects me.

second, i have a lot of moms in my life. my wife, who is the mother of my three boys. my second mom. my mother-in-law. so it always feels like one is getting celebrated, and another short-changed. i’m never quite sure how to honor and celebrate all of them.

i know, that’s probably my overdeveloped sense of responsibility speaking.

third, it just comes at a very crazy time of the year. school, sports, work. it seems like all the floodgates of life are open, and we’re just trying to keep our heads above water.

but with all those disclaimers, i try my best to make sure one particular mom is honored every year—my wife.

you see, my wife is pretty amazing.

she’s a superhero, actually. i like to think of her as my wonder woman.

and it’s not because she juggles a lot of things well. even though she does.
or that she does everything perfectly.

it’s simply the way she does everything.
she has a way, a style about her.

i can do a lot of things around the house. i can cook. i can clean. i can do laundry. i can take care of things.

but there’s just something about the way that jennifer handles situations that i can’t duplicate.

and if you’re a dad, you know what i mean. if your wife has ever gone out of town, you know that you manage to keep the kids alive and fed, but there’s something about the way a mom does things that a guy just can’t duplicate.

it’s elusive. it’s unique. there’s a finesse. she sees our boys often in an insightful way.

i was very close to my mom. and if it’m perfectly honest, there’s some part of me that’s always wanted to protect my children from being too close to Jennifer. because if anything ever happened to her, i wouldn’t want them to go through what i did. i never want them to endure that much pain.

but i can’t fight it. it’s just too obvious. my boys need their mom, and their dad—for different reasons.

and there’s just something about the way that my wife loves our kids, “sees” them, is patient with them, listens to them that is different than the way i do it.

and that’s a very good thing.

so happy mother’s day, jennifer. you are amazing. not just because of what you do, but in the incredible way you do it.

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