Can you tell that I’m excited about Mother’s Day this year? \u00a0Me????<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong… \u00a0I have a great family and I love them all. \u00a0And one year, when I was hired to give a talk to a group of mothers who couldn’t be with their kids due to some major medical issues, asked “WHO invented a holiday with the power to make a woman feel like both a inadequate mother AND a bad daughter all at the same time????”<\/p>\n

But I’m excited this year. \u00a0I get to spend at least part of the day with my adult son. \u00a0Geography has made that impractical for quite some time. \u00a0This year it’s not a factor. What a gift!<\/p>\n

And while I’m on the subject, I think that this is a great day to honor anyone<\/em> who has consistently lifted you up and supported your dreams.<\/p>\n

So, here’s a gift for you. \u00a0More of my collection…<\/p>\n

The Perfect Mother’s Day Gift<\/a>…. \u00a0Thanks to Lenore Skenazy, author of Free Range Ki<\/em>ds<\/em>. \u00a0If you’re not giving my book<\/a> as a Mother’s Day gift please consider hers!<\/p>\n

Giving Birth Stories<\/a> from the “front line.” \u00a0Delivery room staff share some ‘moments.’ \u00a0Some of these really made me laugh.<\/p>\n

Love Letter from a Daughter<\/a> An unexpected gift from a 15 year-old at a time her Mom really needed it!<\/p>\n

<\/a>Some Facts About Homeless Families<\/a> Families with children are now the fastest growing group of homeless in America; about half of homeless women with children are escaping domestic violence.<\/p>\n

Happy Mother’s Day<\/a> from a “Mom in the middle.” \u00a0Teenaged son still at home and aging parents needing care…. \u00a0this writer is an old friend who sometimes makes me laugh and other times makes me think. \u00a0Just like when we used to be neighbors.<\/p>\n

Peace Trees Vietnam<\/a> Did you know that, even this long after the war, land mines are still injuring children in Viet Nam? \u00a0Take a look at what this group of Moms (and others!) are doing about it.<\/p>\n

Awkward Family Photos<\/a> Warning: \u00a0I have a strange sense of humor. \u00a0You don’t get to yell at me if you go here and find something you don’t like — you don’t have<\/em> to visit the site!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Free Range Kids to some fun sites…. and more thoughts on homeless families. Here’s my Mother’s Day grab bag for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[180,182,338,435],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-8200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting","tag-free-range-kids","tag-fun","tag-mothers-day","tag-raising-future-adults"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8200"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreapatten.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=8200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}