Mother’s Day weekend is always crazy busy around here. The day prior we have a big family party every year, so the kids were wild with energy and excitement (and sugar). All the cousins bomb around, it’s almost warm enough to call spring, and they can smell that the end of the school year is getting closer every day.

Mother’s Day proper is busy too! We had brunch with Sassy and co, and touched base with lots of moms we care about on many levels. And so many moms impact our lives! It makes it one of my more frustrating days of the year, trying to recognize the efforts of so many to raise great kids.

It’s also a day that I share with a lot of other moms; our kids’ first parents. And that makes it an especially poignant day, loaded with love and contemplation of everything that’s happened to bring us to this point. We talk a lot about “real” parents in adoption land, but so many families have complex and untraditional ties these days. We’re not alone, and adoption isn’t the only complicating factor. So whether the “mom” or “moms” in your universe are official or not, thank them. Love them. Appreciate them. They make us all stronger.

I am part of a multigenerational cadre of women who love the children we parent. These women live in many countries. They would move heaven and earth for these kids, and so would we. What greater gift can we bring to the next generation than bench strength in ferocious love? So in the way that I found the lives of only children incomprehensible as a kid, as a parent I can only marvel at how smaller posses operate. We are multitude, we cross-adore, and we speak frankly. These kids have no idea what a wealth and overwhelming wave they will experience as they get older. I can only wish the same to everyone reading this.

Find your people, empower them to help shape your kids, and enjoy how much wisdom many can impart to each child. It takes a village. Happy Mother’s Day to all.