Mother’s Day means a lot of things to me. I am a mother, a daughter, a sister and a friend. Each perspective gives me new insight into what it is like to be a mother, from the marathon nights walking the floor with a crying child and carrying on the next day with no sleep, the encouraging words of “I believe in you,” the babysitting jobs and the endless, wonderful advice. I have no sisters by blood, but I have many women in my heart who are more than friends and though I’m technically an aunt, my niece is more like a sister.
    A very special group of friends celebrate our children’s triumphs together and act as sounding boards for each other if there is a problem, because chances are, someone has been through it before. Some, like me, don’t have family nearby and rely on good friends to help us get through life’s challenges. 
    One girlfriend is a second mother to my kids, she knows them as well as I do. I like to think I am a second mother to her children as well. Between us, we have nine children, ranging in ages from 7 to 19 years old. The children are interchangeable through the summer and we are never sure who we will be feeding at any given time. Without her, I would not be the person or the mother I am today.
    I think one measly day a year is not enough to laud the mothers of the world for all they do but it is nice to have the recognition concentrated. I have never been one for big gifts, I love the handmade cards, sticky kisses and burnt toast for breakfast. It’s more important to me that a gift is chosen with the recipient in mind, not just because a child feels they must do something. Which brings me to the commercialization of Mother’s Day.
    Why must it be a day to present good old mom with diamonds to thank her for the sacrifices she was happy to make for her child? Sacrifices she would have made without expecting anything in return.
    Unconditional love was invented by mothers, it had to be, or no child would make it past the terrible twos with the mother’s sanity still intact. Perhaps it is some sort of defense mechanism to protect mothers from those children who do not appreciate them nearly enough, or who only think of mom on Mother’s Day without giving her a second thought the rest of the year. 
    Despite the numerous perspectives I have, there are some I have yet to experience. I know that all too soon, I will see Mother’s Day from a grandmother’s point of view, and instead of congratulating friends who are having their first baby, I will be congratulating them on their first grandchild.
    Nothing makes you realize how quickly life moves more than having children. One day they are babies, then suddenly, they are headed to school. In no time, they are graduating from high school and you wonder where the time has gone.
    A quick Internet search showed the founder of Mother’s Day in the United States meant it as a day to show appreciation for mothers, with a heartfelt, hand-written note and a single white carnation. Some reports said the founder, Anna Jarvis, spent the remainder of her life fighting the commercialism of the holiday.   
    I am not sure who the modern day Mother’s Day is aimed at,  the children who appreciate their mothers; or the mothers, to give them an opportunity to reflect on the job they’ve done raising their children. Either way, I hope everyone took the time to think about family, particularly a mother or children, and used the day to reflect on what their mother did for them.       
—Stephanie Grinnell is a reporter at Mainely Media, LLC