“I don’t know what’s more exhausting about parenting: the getting up early, or acting like you know what you’re doing.” —Jim Gaffigan

Oh Jim, how right you are. I also often think of the lyrics from an old favorite Michael McDonald song: “Days turn into years, and years into the blink of an eye.” True, true, all true.

Mother’s Day; the Mother of All Days. I look at anyone who becomes a parent with awe; being a parent myself does nothing to lessen my admiration for those who choose to mold little people into adults—just the contrary. And the parents I like and admire the most are the ones who don’t act like they’ve got their shit completely together. I want to hang out with the ones who are fine to go about their days without divulging their kid’s ridiculously high GPA to the final decimal or sharing only the parts of their lives that look super Instagram-worthy. I like the people who are willing to lie to their kids about how much Halloween candy the grown-ups pilfered from their bags.

And that’s because motherhood—and parenting in general—is messy and smelly and hard, and often confusing. There are so many moments when we think nothing is going all that well. Then there are moments when we think, Maybe things are going ok. And here, that moment when I forgot whose class parent I was, but it didn’t stop me from being super helpful (cough). And if you’ve never threatened to throw your kid’s cell phone out of a car window . . . well, you’re a better parent than I. But I’m kind of freaking out that my older kid is a freshman in college, and that I’m even thinking back with nostalgia to this, his 17th birthday cake (too salty from the saline in my tears—no, just kidding, the cake was pretty damn delicious).

It’s been a high-spirited ride, with all of those ups and downs that roller coasters have. I’ve felt like I’ve succeeded and I’ve failed, and many times all in the same day. This piece about being a Boy Mom has resonated with more people than anything I’ve ever written (non-recipe-related). I’m still grateful my boys had the sense of humor or indifference (whichever) to let me write and publish it – they both had approval.

And I leave you for now with best wishes for a lovely Mother’s Day, and a few nuggets from some wise (funny) parents.

“Apparently I pack an apple in my 5 year old’s lunch just so it can get out of the house for a few hours.”

Brian HopeTweet This

“Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he’s buying.”

Fran LebowitzTweet This

“Being a mom has made me so tired. And so happy.”

Tina FeyTweet This