A mother...

A mother is kind and compassionate and often says just the right things.
A mother works hard to maintain her home and her sanity.
A mother ensures that her children behave "properly."
A mother is a good listener and usually a good talker.
A mother is a gentle spirit and a dear friend.
A mother teaches letters and numbers and colors and shapes.
A mother teaches aiming straight, sitting backwards and wiping.
A mother does laundry and dishes and dusting and vacuuming.
A mother cleans spilled juice, sticky fingers, toilets and snooty noses.
A mother builds towers, plays babies, flies airplanes and colors Star Wars pages.
A mother is patient beyond measure.
A mother laughs 'til she cries at the silliness of her babies.
A mother loves her children and often defends them even when they are in the wrong.
A mother guides her children, allowing them to make mistakes that sometimes seem rather costly.
A mother does anything to protect her young and would cross the earth for them.
A mother makes unparalleled sacrifices.
A mother jumps for joy at small accomplishments.
A mother weeps alongside her child when they have been hurt or wronged.
A mother gets dirty in the sandbox, dances til she falls and can ignore the messes that abound.
A mother seeks counsel and wisdom from other moms who have been there.
A mother is still a mother, even if she has a child in Heaven.
A mother instructs her children in truth, love, loyalty, righteousness and faith.
A mother's desire is for her children to know Jesus and trust Him as their Savior.

All the while...

A mother loses her cool, her patience and often control.
A mother strives for the best even when it seems that 50% is all she's got.
A mother says I'm sorry and asks for forgiveness... from her children and her husband.
A mother fixes crazy dinners that seem "unbalanced" to any outsiders.
A mother could accidentally ignore the fact that the "zoo animals" are running wild.
A mother just might let her kid pick up their food off of a dirty restaurant floor and proceed to return it to their mouth.
A mother allows chocolate milk, a little Sprite, a few pieces of candy and the occasional cookie...before dinner.
A mother might give in to begging just to achieve a moment of peace and quiet.
A mother might yell when she's had enough.
A mother probably cries at times for no apparent reason.
A mother is probably exhausted and can't wait each day until nap time.
A mother possibly uses the YMCA, not just for exercise but for the few moments without anyone hanging from a limb.
A mother might put toys in the crib for 5 more minutes of sleep or teach a 3-year-old how to turn on the TV and pour his milk or even get up at the crack of dawn to drag herself to work