What makes me a good Mom?

It's a lot easier to think of things that make me a not-so-good Mom, but I wanted to be good to myself since it's Mother's Day tomorrow and all.
I think it will be my first year without my Hubby here to help the boys paint rocks for me or to buy me a plant or to tell me "I love you..thanks for being such a great mom to our boys." Dear husband is on the river (he's a river guide now ya know) until Monday. So this is me telling me Happy Mother's Day! And also HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MY FRIENDS HERE! Be good to yourself.

1. I love childrens books and my kids have quite the collection. We go to the library all the time. I like to read to them too.
2. I tell my boys that I love them every single day. (sometimes 5 or 6 times)
3. I "am the cutest pregnant Mommy in the whole world" (according to The 7-yr old)
4. I cut their hair with lots and lots of patience. (because their faces are so cute when I am doing it)
5. I take them to a fast food restaurant at least once a week, and get them a kids meal too..even though I'm sick of those damn toys.
6. I check on them and pat their cheeks a couple hours after they go to bed.
7. I make their grilled cheese sammiches before mine.
8. I like to squeeze their guts out. (it's kinda gross, but fun)
9. I talk to them like they are my friends. (unless they are in trouble, then I am beating them with a stick and yelling like that crazy "religious" lady from WifeSwap)
10. I let them listen to my CD's..Weezer, Ryan Adams, KORN, (whilst skipping over quite a few songs) Enya. (But they better put them back in the cases soon! ERG!)
11. I cook for them at least once a week. (that's a positive...right?)
12. We decorate Easter eggs. (though I have gone from buying the neat vinegar die with wire scooper thing to getting out my expensive markers and saying, "here ya go..I'm gonna go check my emails." But I will rave to no end about the squiggley's they made with The Marker That Was Running Outa Ink.
13. I keep track of their toenails and earwax.
14. I make sure they take baths and brush their teeth.
15. I write them notes sometimes just to remind them how wonderful they are.
16. I let them build blanket forts, using my good hardcover books to hold the blankets down, and messing up all the couch cushions.
17. We have special signs that we do to blow kisses..each one different. And it's tradition to do the "kisses signs" every morning before school and then when they go to bed. These special ways keep our kisses safe all day.
18. I let The 10 yr. old get a puppy last month even though we have a big dog already and even though I have said "We are NOT getting another dog EVER..unless it is a small dog........someday."
19. I buy Otter Pops.
20. I am taking them to the local public pool today, even though I'm scared and don't know what to wear on my pregnant body. (The bikini I bought last August just might not work now and plus..I lost my butt)
21. I teach The boys (by example) how to deal with PMS. And for the last one, I decided to ask 10 yr old what he thinks makes me a good mom:
22. You're nice and because you're the best mom in the world.
Thanks buddy!
I love being a mom. It's a hard job and most of the time I am beating myself up at the mistakes I make and crying about how I am perhaps ruining my kids lives. At least I'm aware of what I need to work on. But I do know that I am better at loving my children than any other woman on this planet. And in the end, that is all that matters.