Am I a good mother?

I ask myself that question everyday. Am I a good mother?

I want to be the best mother I could ever be. I guess most of us do. But how do we measure the goodness of a mother?

I grew up in Bicol with my mom. I grew up with my mom's oldest brother as my Papa. My biological father was in different places because of his work as a military man. (He then transferred to Navy and retired as a Coastguard.) I only saw him during summer vacations. My mother raised me alone. She worked her ass day and night to provide me decent meals and nice clothes. She managed to send me to a private school while she ran her salon and her other sidelines. She was into Avon, Natasha, Boardwalk, Triumph and more others. I saw her at her best and worst, strong and weak. I witnessed how she struggled for both of us to survive. And I love her more than anything in this world. She IS the BEST mother, a mother could ever be. I can never be compared to her.

I have two wonderful-smart-lovely daughters. My eldest, Angela, is 4 years old. And Baby Rain is turning 1 this coming May. For four years that I am a mother, I can certainly tell that this task given to women is no joke. Not at all. From conception to labor pains. To delivery room or operating room. From teaching them to walk and talk to sending them to school. There is no downtime for this job. Mothers can't ask for a vacation leave. We can't even file a sick leave even when we are indeed sick. We can't be lazy. Because there are living species that awaits for our care, love and affection. Our children need us to feed them, bathe them, protect them, care for them and nurture them. That's 24/7. No excuses. We love our children. We love to love them.

At some point, we also feel tired and worn-out. We tend to neglect them for a while. We sometimes overlook their needs. We get mad. We unconsciously hit them. We regret doing so. We 
get tired of the routine. We get weary, exhausted, drained and dead beat. But at the end of the day, we are still mothers. And we love our children.

As we near the month of May, I would love to offer this whole month as a tribute to all mothers out there. I am looking forward to write the most inspiring stories of different mothers I know.

Watch out for it! =)