Mothers & their children

My mom & I often discuss the lopsidedness that is the mother/child relationship--the way that a child never loves the parent the same way that the parent loves the child; the seeming ungratefulness & entitlement that children often display in regards to the love, attention, & material outpouring that the parents often lavish on their children so willingly. I recently found a great description of this written by Vicki Iovine in her book, 'The Girlfriends' Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood',

"We Girlfriends never cease to be amazed at how mothers are taken for granted. No child will ever grow up and genuinely thank you for the way you stayed awake all night to make sure the kindergarten chicken eggs hatched safely, or for yelling at the t-ball coach who called him a "daisy picker in right field." It's as though the childrens' credo goes something like this: "You are mine. I lived in you, I drank from you, I wiped my nose on you and I barged right in while you were going to the bathroom. Your job is to love me, protect me, teach me and then prepare me to leave you, only to come back when my girlfriend dumps me or I flunk out of college. I will call you when I feel like it. If I am a boy, I will spend all my major holidays at my wife's house, and if I'm a girl, I will finally begin to appreciate you after I get pregnant and become a mother myself.""

I, luckily, am still in the phase where I expect my children to take me for granted but I know that someday this will change...they will grow up & I will start to expect them to notice the special things I do just for them & verbally appreciate the extra money I spent to buy them 'just the right dress' to make them happy. But they won't, and it will hurt...just like my mom said it would.

Thanks, Mom, for all you did & do out of love for me and I'm sorry I didn't/don't appreciate it the way I should.