There are many reasons why you should love and appreciate your mother, and as you age, they become more and more apparent. It is no secret that without them, we would not be here. Whether we want to believe it or not, we depend on these wonderful women to survive, and there's no better person to talk to.

1. She’s on Your Side

This is one of those things that I think is really hard for a lot of people to believe. And that’s okay. It only took me 17 years to understand. But here’s the thing: your mother stops breathing down your neck and controlling your every move when you stop thinking she’s breathing down your neck and controlling your every move. The day I decided to be friends with my mother was the best day of my life. Granted, she’s still my mom first. She’s still got to ground me when I do stupid teenager things, or get on my case when I get home past curfew, or bark at me to apply for more scholarships. But closely following being my mother, she’s my biggest fan. I know that I am a piece of work sometimes. There are issues in which my mother and I couldn’t be any more different, but you know what? She’s still proud of me when I fight for my side of the argument. She still loves me and trusts me after I do stupid things. The thing is: life becomes so much easier when you stop thinking your mother are out to get you. It doesn’t make sense most of the time in the moment, but a vast majority of the reasons she grinds your gears so much is because she’s busy trying to ensure you have the future you dream of and stay safe and happy enough to reach it.

2. She’s (Usually) Always Right

And I’m not talking about the argument about where one of you may (or may not have) put that really cute sweater you two share, I’m talking about the big stuff. The older I get, the more I realize how much my mother knows. I don’t know if it comes from experience, if it’s just a motherly instinct type deal, or a combination thereof, but my mom really has a more profound and intuitive way of thinking than I often give her credit for. It’s typical of me (or anyone really) to puff out our chests and say we know what’s best for ourselves, but that’s not always the truth. It’s hard to fess up to that sometimes. But there has seldom been a piece of advice my mother has given me that hasn’t worked out exactly the way she said it would in the end after I’ve swallowed my pride and decided to yield to it. You’d think after all this time I would learn to listen to her more often.

3. It Gets Better With Time

Four years ago, I never would have guessed I would be as close to my mom as I am now. We were going through a lot; fresh out of a divorce, we had just moved into a new house that I didn’t want to be in. Even better, we were rooming together because the house wasn’t big enough. So it was hard to get away when I was angry, and I was always angry. Not at her, just at the situation we were stuck in. I knew it wasn’t what any of us wanted, but it was what we had to work with at the time. She tried so hard to make it seem like a fun and exciting new adventure for us, and I refused to give her the time of day. I thought then that we would always be stuck in that situation and we would always have the relationship we had at that time; where I was always irritated and the air was always tense. Little did I know, I just had some growing up to do. I discovered that you have to get through the nasty bits to get to the good ones. If we hadn’t endured the things we did, we wouldn’t be where we are now. All it takes is time for both you and your mother to grow and come into more of your own person, and make more of an attempt to understand each other before you can really have a functional, trusting, accepting relationship.

4. You Need Her More Than You Think

Sometimes it hard to swallow your pride and admit it, but it’s almost a universal truth that everyone has a bit of momma’s boy or momma’s girl in them. After all, you and your mother share a bond that no one else can ever understand; a connection beyond words. As an infant she changes your poopy diapers and takes projectile vomit to the face and feeds you disgusting puree foods. As a toddler and a child she ties your shoes and sings you the same song to sleep every night and cleans up bloody scraped elbows and knees. As a teenager she finances your textbooks and holds your shaking shoulders through your first failed test, first break up, first time staring down the future. How do we repay that? By taking it for granted. The biggest enemy to a mother is her child’s independence; the fear they won’t need her anymore. What no one tells you though is that as you grow up, yes, you do stray away from your mother taking care of you, but there comes a point when you start to edge back to her. With college fast approaching I’m really starting to cherish all the little things my mom does for me on the daily. Everything between starting my car for me on a cold morning to surprising me with cute underwear to boost my confidence after a hard week. And while I’m definitely excited for the future, I already miss depending on my mom.

5. She Really is Your Best Friend

This is another one of those things that I didn’t realize until I was older, after I had matured and became a much more tolerable person. I have such a great, close relationship with my mom that sometimes it’s confusing to me that not everyone else has the same thing with their mothers. I couldn’t say when it happened, when we actually started to develop what I consider to be a friendship, but it has been one of the greatest developments (a blessing, honestly) in my life. Your mother wants to be there for you. I don’t think all mothers stress it so obviously, but I can assure you: she understands so much more than you give her credit for. My mom goes above and beyond in everything she does. Without her, I have no idea how I would have survived this long. That woman would literally go to the ends of the earth for me if I asked her to. That’s not something you can find in your average, every day, ordinary friendship.

With all that said, I encourage you all to look at your mothers and tell them you love them and hug them a little tighter out of thanks for all they do.