As the saying goes “it takes a village to raise a child”.  All weekend I’ve been thinking about the village of people who helped raise me and the community of women who are helping me raise my children. I’d like to dedicate a day to those mothers.  The ones who mother everyone, not just their own children.  If I thought long and hard enough about these women it would certainly bring me to tears.  My life, and the lives of my children, depend on them.

To Gloria, my mother’s best friend when I was a child.  Gloria was also a single mother and so she and my mom had each other’s backs.  She was the one who picked me up from school if I was sick, she took us overnight when my mom needed a break, she even taught me how to ride a bike.

To Myra, the elderly women at church who must have known that I was missing the role of grandmother in my life and happily stepped in to provide some much needed wisdom that only comes with age.

To my Aunt Chris, who has stepped up to remember all the holidays and birthdays and special occasions that my own grandmother would.

To Rosie, my father in-law’s significant other, who has been a part of my children’s lives since before Kitten was born, who is a grandmother to them in every way, and loves them as if they are her own.

To the group of women I have known online and in real life through message boards as we’ve gotten married, had children, had life thrown at us in so many ways, you truly know me best  and have carried me in ways you can never know.

The my neighbors who are now dear friends Jess and Jill, one of these days we will meet in the street and drink wine and we will buy a safe house down the street for escapes.  In the meantime, let’s just stick to the SOS texts and random “I knew you needed a hug” pop-bys.

To Carolyn, for being willing to leave her kid in the middle of the night to take care of mine.  You know I would absolutely do the same.

To Christina, for helping me fake being a put together mom by covering up my hot mess with reminder emails and texts about the goings-on of our kids’ schedules.  And for so much more that has bonded us.

To Michele, thank you for having a cool kid who is friends with my kid, which in turn makes us friends.  (And possibly future in-laws).  You, and your daughter, get my kid at her truest self and for that I am forever grateful.

I could go on and on with all the other women who help me mother myself and my children on a daily basis but I’ll stop for now.

For the record: totally crying now.

Saturday a bunch of these women and I went out for dinner and drinks.  We all hadn’t seen each other in a while and needed a night out to decompress and not be mothers.  It was fabulous.  We decided that we are going to make going out the night before Mother’s Day a yearly occurrence to celebrate ourselves.

To all the “other” mothers mothering today and everyday.  Thank you.