Mother Nature. Every morning when I’m not traveling I walk around the island. So many beautiful flowers, trees, the harbor, the local pets, and even the sea lions make it such a beautiful place. Very therapeutic. Very inspiring. Very relaxing. Very awesome.

My grandmother - maternal; the paternal grandmother was not alive when I was born. I think grandparents are always kids favorites, most of the time, because the two of them have a common enemy!

 

The Mother Goddess in her many incarnations.

I see Pat already read my mind by listing Mother Teresa! Also, Gaia (I refer that over "Mother Nature" as its a little less Androcentric/Patriarchal). Here’s to all the Mom’s all there, Three big Cheers woohoo!!!

My Daughter…she was/still is a wonderful mother to her son and daughter. Now she is a wonderful, attentive grandmother to her two young grandsons. She also is a wonderful daughter. I sent her a gift for Mother’s Day, as she deserved it.

Who taught you math?  Your pie chart is dismal.  Please don’t use them if you can’t do so correctly.

my maternal grandmother, my grammy, raised me during the day while my step mother (my real mothers sister) was at work all day. she lived with us and took care of us. my real mother was in okinawa and i missed and loved her very much but she wasn’t there for me (i thought she was my favorite auntie til i was in my 20’s and she was long dead). 

my step mother was a bit of a religious fanatic so my grammy made it easier for me. still read to me, let me watch shows my step mother wouldn’t and made me treats all the time. but she also gave me lots of much needed discipline. she would read her books and such all the time. so that i learned to read from her even before kindergarten. she instilled in me a love of books and an unbiased love of all colors and walks of life. 

she was always there for me until the day she died next to me on the couch. sometimes i dream of her and know that she is proud of my children and grandson. i miss her so much. she died when i was 13 in 1974, one month after my real mother died.

i do have to say that my step mother did love me in her own way and i think if she hadn’t had her religion guiding her (and her being a fanatic about it and its rules. she made it into a cult) she might have been much easier on me. but she was older and the world was changing and for the worst in her eyes. she was trying to protect me and i know it was hard for her. so i give her that and i do love her. but i don’t miss her as much as the others. i was there at her bedside tho when she did of cervical cancer when i was 18, in 1977.

who i am most proud of is my daughter in raising her son with all the problems and difficulties she has had to go thru from the day she found out (christmas day 2005, my christmas present) til the present. everything that has happened from raising my grandson for the first 7mos without his father (the paternity test hadn’t come back) to finally winning in the court battles with daddy and getting joint she has worked harder than most just to keep him healthy. he has had 4 operations and she has been there no matter what. i’m SUPER proud of her. Happy Mother’s day dotter! (danish for daughter). 

My own personal Queen Mum. CA

My favorite mothers (plural) are our daughter, daughter-in-law & their friends who in spite of (most) having to work & perform homemaking chores (also engaging husbands/fathers), make quality time & perform  duties which I did years ago as a stay-at-home mother (school functions, baking the cookies & cupcakes, serving as Class Mother, etc.).   

The Mothers of Invention rule! Okay, I love my mother, but damn, she is one mean, mean woman and one of the most judgemental people that I have ever known. And now that I am at 50 years old, she will rarely look me in the eye, she is sooo ashamed that I am overweight and that EVERY single conversion with her has to revisit that topic yet again.

I miss the Mothers of Invention! 

My mother gave me the gift of spending time with other mothers…usually my best friend’s mothers.  My mother was an awful mother , mainly because she had had an awful childhood, and I’d like to think a small part of her realized this and allowed me to spend time with three other mothers in my life who were fabulous to me and with me.  Thanks Mom.  and yea Mother Nature is pretty cool!

Michelle Obama would be my number one chose but to be honest I don’t have a favorite, because all of the mothers I know personally and see and hear of by way of celebrity status, fall short of what I define as an ideal mother.

Too many women today have adopted the "I want to be a friend to my kids" manner of raising their children. Gone are the days of true respect and reverence from their kids toward them. If they aren’t spoiling their kids with material goods they are lenient in letting them engage in activities they shouldn’t. I said this on another thread and I genuinely mean it. I am scared to death of the youth that are coming of age today. On one hand they are more open minded and embrasive in terms of race and sexual identity. But on the other hand they lack self respect, respect for others, a sense of work ethic and morals.

To many mothers fail their children in my opinion. I know of no women I would hold up (as I said short of Michelle Obama) who are raising their children to respect them as a parental figure AND respect themselves.