Rant

Pardon me while I throw a teeny little hissy fit. It's my blog, so I'm allowed to do that here. 

Today is Mother's Day. Per Wikipedia, a mother is: "a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the egg which in union with a sperm grew into a child." 

I am a mother. Today is MY day. I endured 40 weeks of pregnancy. Stretch marks. Stitches in my nether regions. Leaking boobs and mastitis (twice). Countless sleepless nights. I have been pooped on. Peed on. Barfed on. I take my kids to doctor appointments and cry harder than they do when they get shots. I make sure they are registered for school, brush their teeth and wear their shoes on the right feet. I drive a minivan. My purse is full of smooshed up fruit snacks, baby wipes, and broken crayons. I use a Tracfone instead of a fancy iPhone so that my kid can wear her school-approved Lands End uniform. I have not taken a shower longer than 8 minutes in the past seven years. I haven't peed without an audience in almost as long. I've given up Friday night Happy Hour for cheese (and ONLY cheese!) pizza and watching movies with talking dogs and singing unicorns. I push the ridiculously obnoxious "car carts" at the grocery store.  I am tired. 

For all those reasons listed above is exactly WHY moms deserve Mother's Day (not to mention all the fun moms of teenagers endure... yikes!) So... when I see posts on Facebook and cards in the Hallmark store for moms of "fur babies," it kinds of pisses me off. I love animals. I do. I am not a pet owner myself however, so forgive me. 

However, moms EARNED this day. Please, please just let us have it. Please, please don't make us share. We already have to share every OTHER  part of our lives. Let us have this ONE SINGLE DAY to celebrate. I have never served in the armed forces. I don't get to bask in the honor bestowed upon Veterans on November 11. They have earned that day. It's theirs to celebrate, not mine. 

I have NO DOUBT that you love your pet as if it were your human child... but, it's not. 

I also realize pet owners also experience sacrifice and heartache on behalf of their pets... but, in the end, you can leave your dog in a crate and go out to dinner. I get to celebrate Mother's Day because I have to bring my children with.... and cut their chicken fingers, pick their crayons up off the floor, and wipe up their chocolate milk when it spills all over my lap. 

PS: Did you know that April 18, 2014 was National Pet Owners day? And (no matter how much my children remind me of wild animals) I promise I won't claim to be a "pet owner" on THAT day.
So there.