My mom is one of my biggest motivations and even though we don't always see eye to eye, I know she wants what's best for me and has done all she can to help me achieve my goals. She's a hard worker and I think she deserves a little recogniton for all the amazing things she's done.

1. Keeping me from altering my appearance negatively

Maybe the normal light brown shoulder length haircut wasn't doing it for me anymore, and I wanted to chop it all off and dye it purple. Mom probably told me that I'd regret it, or that it would damage my hair or something, but I was hell bent on looking cool. I begged her for years until I realized how awful it would have looked had I gone through with it. Although I had to suffer from boring hair, I'm slightly thankful that mom was right.

2. Teaching me how I shouldn't let popular fads affect me

It was probably expensive and absolutely useless, but I needed it. It was the one thing that would make me cool and popular and I just knew it. So she bought it for me, and it was useful for maybe a couple weeks until I realized it was stupid and threw it to the dark recesses of my closet where it still resides, never to be seen again. This happened several more times before she just stopped saying yes to buying me "popular" things. On the other hand, she probably didn't buy me some of the things I wanted and once they lost their value among my friends I realized how stupid they were. Over time, mom kinda picked up on things and made sure to voice how dumb the thing was before she bought it for me.

3. Trying to keep me from growing up

We were all once a little kid who looked forward to growing up so that we could do whatever we wanted. Mom always tried to explain how being an adult wasn't all that great, but I didn't listen. She made me sit in car seats, eat off the kid's menu, and lie about my age to get in places for free for much longer than she'd like to admit, but she just wanted me to enjoy being young while I could. Now that I'm a young adult I understand the stress of jobs, academics, and social life. Kinda makes me wish I'd basked in childhood when I had the chance.

4. Being there through the loss and ruining of friendships

Things didn't necessarily end badly, but mom knew they weren't a friend that would stick through the hard times. She didn't stop me from hanging out with them, but she also didn't encourage it. She could see that I felt like I couldn't be myself around them and that I tried my hardest to be what I thought they'd like. When I decided I didn't need them in my life, mom was there to be my new friend and make sure I knew I had someone there to talk to, and maybe binge movies with.

5. Making me wear a coat

Coats are a hassle, but we should have just worn them; whether it was raining, below zero, or just windy. If I had left the house half the time without a coat then I'd have frozen or gotten sick; thankfully mom was there forcing my arms through the sleeves and zipping me in "for my own good."

6. Not bringing up that one ex

She called it from day one; she didn't like them but I didn't care. We dated for long enough that she got a sense of who they were and still didn't like them. It wasn't until after the break up that I realized they weren't worth my time in the first place. Mom called it but she never rubbed it in my face; she knew how much it sucked to think you know a person only to find out they're someone else completely. She doesn't bring them up, but she wouldn't hesitate to run them over with a shopping cart if they spotted them while grocery shopping.

7. Being so similar

Inheriting personality traits has its perks, like being able to enjoy similar movies and food, as well as having similar fashion styles. Often it means sharing an entire wardrobe or looking like sisters and feeling similar on a scary level. Usually, I find myself thinking, "I sound like my mother." Mom's pretty great though, so I don't sweat it too much. We do have some differences.

8. Not letting me give up

There were so many times that the pressure got to me and I wanted to just lock myself in my room with my cat and turn in my pink slip for life. Mom wasn't going to let that happen though. She always found a way to get me out of my slump, whether it was awful cat memes, renting funny movies, or buying me gallons of ice cream and curling up on the couch to eat them with me.

9. Mending my broken heart

This is a big one. The first real heartbreak is always the worst, and your mom definitely prepared me for that, but it still sucked. Whether you wept on your mom's lap or shoulder, she probably told you plenty of things to help numb the pain. Believe it or not, she's probably experienced some amount of heartache in her life and she knows what she's talking about. Maybe in the moment her words might not do a whole lot, but she's really right. Things will get better, I am amazing, and it's okay to be upset.

10. Encouraging me to be myself

I was always a little unsure of who I was, but I wanted to be liked by everyone. That was my problem. Mom told me that I couldn't please everyone and that the only person I should really worry about making happy was myself. It took me a while to figure out, but pretty soon I pieced myself together and here I am. My mom built the foundation, and I had to put up the walls and clean the windows to let the light in. Of course she brought over other pieces as well, but she showed me how to be who I wanted to be. I can never thank her enough for helping me build myself.