It’s Mother’s Day at 4:00am Santa Fe time or 3:00am Arizona time. I have just finished driving five hours—the last leg of our trip—from Arizona to Santa Fe so that my daughter can participate in a recital today, Mother’s Day.

On the drive I was thinking about “what is Mother’s Day?” Mostly it’s the honoring of women who are mothers. But maybe it could be the honoring of the Practice of mothering, a skill that is developed over time.

Friday, my daughter let me know that I was not being supportive of her in regards to her recital. Earlier in the day she was struggling in her practice and crying. We have more drama and crying these days as the shifting moods of hormones in my 11 year old are regularly seeping in and out of our days. I did my best to listen to the angst and of course gave a suggestion of how to practice, but I’m just now realizing that what was needed was a big hug and a vote of confidence. That I did not give. My attempt was half-hearted.

In fact, I was very much distracted on Friday, as a momentous event was taking place … Continue reading..