I’ve made a number of missteps in my life but marrying my now ex-husband and having 3 babies with him was not one of them.  That’s because those babies have developed into 3 remarkable people who I love more than anything.  I’m going to write about each of them, in chronological order so there are no accusations of favoritism.  And no, my darlings, I don’t have a favorite – I really don’t.  Only bad mothers have a favorite and I am a good mother – but you already knew that.

Like most mothers I have learned so many things from my children – how to live on very little sleep; that my heart can fill to bursting in an instant from the simple act of a child uttering a few syllables or smiling or giving me a messy kiss; that I am not the most important person in the room; how to hold my breath and count to 10 when I’m about to lose it; that love grows when you have more people to love; that how the world looks and feels is truly a matter of perspective; that making the world safe is hard but spurs innovation; that I’m a better person than I thought I was; that fear makes me very angry;  that my emotions can swing from extreme irritation to extreme ardor in the time it takes for a child to say something funny or crack a smile; that I can be utterly selfless and not even notice.

All 3 babies taught me these things but they are all so different and I want to honor my gratitude for each of them, one day at a time, in birth order, in the coming days.