A lot of mothers with chronic illness have enormous feelings of guilt that they cannot be “Super Mommy”. That instead of doing things with their children they have to nap. That they often end up just watching their children instead of participating with them.

In the days before Mother’s Day I wondered, “Is the way I parent my child worth celebrating?”

It doesn’t help that I am going through another depressive episode. It’s not the worse one I’ve ever been in but it is taking it’s toll on my daily activities and thought processes.

In my state I often wonder what to do with Tyler. It is difficult doing things with him so I have been taking him to the park. It gives me a chance to rest and watch Tyler play. Sometimes I talk to the other parents and grandparents there and it makes me feel even more inadequate than I already feel.

Yesterday Tyler was excited to give me his Mother’s Day gifts he made at school.

The inside of the card read:

In case you are not fluent in a kindergartener’s writing it says, “Dear Mom, Thank you for taking me to the park. You are a peacemaker. Love, Tyler”

I looked at what he had written in disbelief. One of the things that I had felt guilty about doing was one of the things he loved the most about me!

I think this can be a wake-up call for us all. Maybe our worst is not so bad. Maybe we are doing better than we think.

Maybe our children love us just the way we are.

Maybe we really do deserve Mother’s Day.