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Stop Saying Your Mom is the "Best Mom Ever"

  • Carrie Dedrick What topic related to Christianity, faith, and the Bible is trending online and in social media today?
  • Updated May 06, 2016
For my college graduation, I made my mom wear a large pink button that read, “Best Mom Ever.” My mom is my friend, confidant, biggest cheerleader, and role model. When I was child, my mom was my nurse, cook, chauffeur, maid, and seamstress. And I deeply appreciate it. I truly believe that I have the “Best Mom Ever.” 
But maybe I’m going about showing my mom my appreciation the wrong way. 
In the Christianity Today blog “Don’t Call Me the Best Mom Ever,” Courtney Reissig says that the title of “Best Mom” becomes a competition around Mother’s Day. Images of superstar moms flood social media with heartfelt messages of gratitude. The moms who manage to raise children while keeping the house clean, cooking wholesome meals, helping with homework, and driving kids to soccer practice, dance lessons, and Girl Scouts are thanked and praised for their endless job of being a parent. 
But what about the moms that feel like they don’t have it all together (which, I’ve heard, are all moms at some point in time)? They are left feeling like the worst mom ever, as they succumb to the voices of criticism in their head that say they aren’t enough. 
Reissig has experience with this. She writes, “...when the rest of us pale in comparison to the real or imagined ‘best moms’ we know—we either feel sorry for ourselves or boast in our failures.” 
By “boasting in our failures,” she means the “mom fails” that we see going viral all the time. You know the ones. There’s the mom who forgets the school bake sale, the mom who gets a speeding ticket on her way to pick up her daughter from preschool, or the mom who shows up to the PTA meeting with two different shoes on. It happens. 
However, Reissig writes, “But our messes shouldn’t define our motherhood, especially not on Mother’s Day. It’s a Supermom contest or a Mom Fail contest on the one day a year we should be loved for simply being a mom.” 
This is the true essence of Mother’s Day. We appreciate moms not for what you do, but who you are. 
The role moms play in the family is irreplaceable. By filling that role in the family, you are the mom your kids need. 
Reissig writes, “Instead of striving for the best or embracing the worse, I hope to be the kind of mom who repents when I sin, admits my limitations, and asks God for more grace the next day.”
Moms, we’re celebrating you on Mother’s Day. We don’t love you for your perfect home-cooked meals, or for your perfected method of ordering takeout. We don’t love you for your Pinterest-worthy organized house, or for your appreciation of organized chaos. 
We just love you for you. We appreciate you mom, who you are as a person. And we appreciate you every day, not just on Mother’s Day. 
Note for those celebrating moms: If you are looking for the perfect way to show your mom she is loved and appreciated, take a look at Cindi McMenamin’s “5 Things Moms Want for Mother’s Day (But Probably Won’t Ask For)”. 
McMenamin’s gift ideas don’t have a great monetary cost, but will have a priceless value to the special woman you call “Mom.” 
Related Video: 

iBelieve.com: 3 Reasons Why My Mom Reminds Me of Jesus from ibelievedotcom on GodTube.

Carrie Dedrick is the Family Editor for Crosswalk.com.

Publication date: May 6, 2016