The second Sunday in May is Mother's Day.  If you follow my newsletter articles, you know I have a 13 year old son, Corey.  Over the years, Mother's Day has been celebrated in many ways in the Reynolds' family - breakfast in bed, thoughtful store-bought presents and simple, homemade treasures.  This year, Corey gave me a cup that said, "Best Mom Ever".  This simple cup and its simple message forced me to ask the question: what does it mean to be a good mom?

I started my search for this answer by firing up Google and typing "on being a good mom" in the search bar.  There were 254,000,000 results!!!  Articles from WebMd and Parenting.com surfaced first.  There were additional results focused on meditation and good mothering, wikiposts, psychological journal reports, trendy magazine surveys, and countless self-help books, reports, white-papers and articles all espousing the latest theories, trends and ideas on what being a good mother entails.  Honestly, this research left me feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and a bit inadequate as a parent!

Through all of my searches, one message resonated with me: at the end of the day, every mom wants to do the best job she can as a parent.  However, sometimes moms need help to be the best they can be.  Some of us are lucky to have family, neighbors or close friends who can provide respite, support or a friendly ear.  Other moms need more assistance because they are faced with common problems and issues, while still others need more intensive help due to traumas and crises like domestic violence, poverty, past physical or sexual abuse and the like.  This is where the Crisis Center provides solutions to people who are struggling.  We are the gateway for moms as well as everyone else in our community to information, support, and services.  We want all moms to find the help, hope and healing they need to be the best parent they can be!

Wishing our community's mothers health, love, and happiness,

Clara