I read this article and I do agree with most things said in it, and everyone has a different relationship with their mom. This is mine.

My mom is a single mom, so she was the only enforcer of rules at the house for my sister and me. And she wasn’t light on rules, she was considered a very strict parent. She didn’t get to be much of a ‘fun’ parent because she didn’t have anyone else to rely on to be the strict parent.

So we always had the mother-daughter relationship that you typically think of.

My teen years I was super hard on her, I tested her every day, and probably made her cry because I never understood her point of view in anything.

I just saw her as my mom.

She always told me ‘I'm your mom, I’m not your friend’. I always believed this because I always felt misunderstood, even though she was the one who had it hard.

When I left for college I realized how horrible I used to be to the woman that gave me everything she could.

My first year away from home, I called her all the time just to hear her voice, I came home often just to hang out with her. I couldn’t believe that I actually wanted to hang out with her since I was so eager to move out when I was 18.

I started building a friendship with her, and it was weird to think that I could start opening up to her.

Every year since then I have gotten closer to her, and she started becoming my bet friend. And it’s not just a ‘yeah my mom’s my best friend’.

It’s that my mom invites me to go drinking with her friends and her. I get to talk to her about my boyfriend. She gives me advice in the way a best friend would, but she also has the mother point of view.

I get the best of both worlds, and I can’t explain how much I truly love my mom. Thank you for being my best friend, mom.

I love you to the moon and back.