Sippy cups are not for chardonnay.

I recently came across an article from the Washington Post about being a stay-at-home-mom. I loved this article.

We all have different jobs, different situations, different hardships...

One of my best friends has a 1 year old and also works a mind boggling schedule in public accounting. The amount of time and effort this gal spends mapping out her sons care, commuting, working, preparing lunches, hauling supplies -- it deserves a medal. I admire her so much, the things she does to help keep her family running smoothly are simply amazing.

Another of my friends has a little boy who was born with some health issues requiring weekly trips to doctors in Seattle (a 3 hour round-trip journey from their home), occassional long-term stays at children's hospital, and for a period of nine months required live-in nursing care (if that sounds like a live-in nanny, it's not. Trust me). They went through the wringer, and are just now coming out on the other side - I'm happy to say unscathed - and their little boy is a complete joy.

With the job of parenting comes so much joy and so much responsibility, so much love and so many challenges. The stay-at-home-mamas, the full-time-workin mamas, everything in between and the daddys too. We all have a big, hard, wonderful job. I wanted to share this article in honor of my two friends who amaze me, I am beyond proud to call them friends.  I truly believe it takes a village, not only to raise children, but to shape us all into the parents we become. 
I hope one day when my little ones are big, they will know how much they were loved, what a joy it was to be their mom, but also know that it took many wonderful influences and the help of many to make me into this mama.