Bonus: Mother’s Day 2020

These last two years have made me keenly aware of the subtle things that make moms so special. I’ve benefitted from these subtle things my entire life, but seeing Jordan operate the Mom game has reminded me how amazing our mothers really are.

Jordan- thank you for doing all of the little things. It’s the little things like giving up wine or chronic back pain and sleepless nights during pregnancy while I’m comfortably snoring right next to you. It’s the Amazon package of summer clothes that you order for Charlie before I even realize it’s getting warm. It’s knowing when to take the bubble machine out of the box to mix up our entertainment sources during quarantine, but also knowing when to say “No” to that extra snack I was about to give her. It’s knowing just what to do when I look at you and ask, “uhhh…what should we do?” It’s reading the parenting blogs and the baby books when I’m listening to a leadership podcast. It’s the group text with your mom friends about how to handle certain parenting situations while I text my friends about the next golf outing. It’s adding things to the grocery list that I didn’t know we needed. It’s that infectious laughter that warms up the room. It’s the sweet cuddles at the end of a long day. It’s knowing exactly what bow matches with that new outfit. It’s dancing around the living room. It’s playing bad cop at times for a good reason. It will be the proactive emails to teachers or knowing who and what will be happening at high school parties before they even happen. It’s being a role model to other Moms and future moms. It’s keeping our house and our family full of the essentials, but more importantly full of love. You’ve been an amazing mom with one and I can’t wait to see you with two.

And Mom, I’ve always appreciated having the Michael Jordan of motherhood, but now that I see Le-Mom James do her thing, I realize how great you really were. I see all the little things you did and still continue to do for us from a different angle. I see the way Dad looks to you like “uhhh, what do we do” the same way that I look to Jordan. And now as I experience parenting, I turn to you every step of the way for advice on how to keep kids humble and kind. We turn to you with questions about how to raise kids that appreciate experiences over material items, or how to hold your ground with firm and safe boundaries while allowing room for kids to learn from their mistakes and fall and scrape their knees. We instill your values and recycle your lessons. Thank you for being the amazing example to me the way that Mrs. Bonder was to Jordan.

I’ve been fortunate to surround myself with a dream team of Moms. My Grandmothers, Mom, wife, Mother-in-law, sister and sister-in-law, cousins, friends’ moms, and now friends represent a collection of special women doing special things to raise special people. Keep doing what you do best, and setting the example for Moms of the future. Love you all!

Happy Mother’s Day!