Although motherhood has been compared to many things, I’d like to think of it as a building with many, many rooms. Throughout the history of the world, the rooms of motherhood have been comparative; each room being better than the next. Instead of coming together and uniting over what we all share in common, we are often divided on which way is the best way to “mom.”

Here’s a fun fact: there is no best way. Now that you know that, here’s a fitting toast to literally every mom.

The Mother’s Day Toast.
(to literally every mom)

Here’s to the mom who gave birth with no drugs

Here’s to the mom that gave birth with all of them

Here’s to the mom that had an emergency C-section

Here’s to the mom that planned hers ahead of time

Here’s to the mom whose children were born in her heart

Here’s to the mom that gained bonus children through marriage.

Here’s to the mom that decided to breastfeed

Here’s to the mom that decided to use formula

Here’s to the mom that only had one

Here’s to the mom whose house is not yet full

Here’s to the mom who gave someone else an opportunity to be a mom

Here’s to the mom that has a village

Here’s to the mom that’s trudging on by herself

Here’s to the mom that’s currently home and doesn’t want to return to work

Here’s to the mom that’s currently home and can’t wait to go back

Here’s to the mom who educates at home

Here’s to the mom that sends hers to school

Here’s to the mom that cooks gourmet dinners every night

Here’s to the mom that could only muster up cereal and applesauce

Here’s to the mom navigating her baby’s health challenges everyday

Here’s to the mom whose babies have very little challenges

Here’s to the mom that believes nature will heal

Here’s to the mom that believes in medical intervention

Here’s to the mom whose babies have yet to arrive

Here’s to the mom whose babies have already arrived

Here’s to the mom whose babies didn’t arrive

Here’s to the mom whose babies were here for a short time

Here’s to the mom that puts her kid in every activity

Here’s to the mom who keeps her kid very close

Here’s to the mom that welcomes everyone’s advice

Here’s to the mom that doesn’t take advice from anyone

Here’s to the mom that kisses every hurt, scrape and scar

Here’s to the mom that believes in resilience

Here’s to the mom that admits she needs a vacation and takes one

Here’s to the mom who needs a vacation and doesn’t

Here’s to the mom that’s always home

Here’s to the mom that wants to be, but can’t

Here’s to the mom that had some challenges in the beginning

Here’s to the mom that mommed right away.

Here’s to the mom that had kids late in life.

Here’s to the mom that had kids early

Here’s to the mom who acts as a bridge to other moms

Here’s to the mom who started as a bridge and ended up being a home.

Here’s to the mom that didn’t know she wanted to be a mom until she was.

Here’s to the mom that always knew

Here’s to the mom that could rely on her mom to teach her everything she needed

Here’s to the mom that had on the job training

Here’s to the mom that hand makes gifts for her kid’s teacher

Here’s to the mom that only sees the teacher at school functions

Here’s to the mom that has never met their kid’s teacher

Here’s to the mom that’s married

Here’s to the mom that isn’t

Here’s to the mom whose dating

Here’s to the mom that doesn’t feel she has time for that either

Here’s to the mom that has everything

Here’s to the mom that doing the best with what she has

Here’s to the mom that attacks every week with vigor

Here’s to the mom that stumbles through everyday

Here’s to the mom that puts her kids’ needs above her own

Here’s to the mom that puts herself first

To the religious moms

To the granola moms

To the corporate moms

To the stay-at-home moms

To the moms that get everything right

To the moms that would like to get at least one thing right

To the moms that are veterans

And to the moms that are still learning

We’re all awesome…because at the end of the day, we all love our children the best way we know how. And that’s something that should be celebrated together.

Happy Mother’s Day!

-Danita LaShelle