I Win

If you have never seen a Mother Of The Year award, take a good look at this sweet little number. I'm sorry to inform all of you out there that I have clinched the award this year. Maybe next year, my friend.

While on my ladies trip this year, we met a great group of strangers who sat with us at dinner. I didn't signed up to eat at a huge table with people I had never met. When I chose to have a set dinner time, I had clearly stated my desire to sit with the two people I was planning to share my closet sized room with. On a boat with 2,000 other people, being at dinner with any of them seemed like torture. While boarding the cruise ship, I had witnessed plenty of people with whom I had no desire of ever talking with, let alone spending two hours breaking bread with. The Gods must have been watching over me this particular day, because the people we ended up eating our four course meals with were fantastic, entertaining and hilarious humans.

After sharing with the table that I had two children whom I had happily left at home so I could jump on a boat and drink myself silly, someone made a joke about me being mom of the year. I laughed uncomfortably and wondered if they thought I was a real dick. I don't think they did. The next night, they brought me a gift that had been lovingly made with whatever scraps they could find on the boat. These included an empty wine bottle, a cork that was drawn with a very good likeness of my face and cut up pieces of the reusable bag we had all received as a thank you from the cruise line. What was created is the award you see above. I have never won an award for anything. There were no soccer championships, spelling bee trophies or Valedictorian medals in my life. I have never excelled at anything (that sounds sad, but it's okay) and now I had a trophy. A trophy for something that I am very proud of doing, being a mom.

I like to poke fun at the trials and tribulations of parenting and I am sure that for some people, my humor falls on deaf ears. It may not be funny to some people that I share my desire to spend a day hiding in a closet with a bottle of vodka or that I ship my kids off to Grandma's house in order to take a shower and a nap. The truth is, I love being a mom. I love my kids and parenting is the one thing in my life that I feel really good at. It's also the only thing I have ever stuck with for longer than a few years. It's true that there are a million other mothers in the world who deserve this award as much as I do (my mother included), but this year it's mine. After my run, I think I will ship it off to another hard working mom and perhaps it can be touched by all the moms I love who are feeding, changing, hugging, and reading to the next generation. Hey mamas, let the games begin.