Don’t get me wrong, my mom is great. Arguably, the best mom on the planet. She’s constantly making sacrifices and putting her children first. She’s raised 5 kids that are all pretty amazing.

I get it, many people completely idolize their mothers. That’s who they want to be like when they finally grow up. They want to make the same meals, have the same rules, and they have that “my mom was right” attitude.

While there's nothing wrong with wanting all of that, I have a different idea of what I want my life to be like. My mom never really worked until my parents opened their own business. She had basically a million kids and took in all of our friends at one point or another. She likes living out in the country, where it's safer for her children. She cooks simple meals for all of her picky kids.

I want to go to school and get a college education. I want to move to a city because there's endless opportunities there. I don’t want children, just a house filled with pups. I want to be different than my mom in so many ways, but just because I don’t want to follow exactly in her footsteps doesn’t mean that I don't respect every decision she's made.

Even though I’m traveling down the opposite path, she’s still the one I look up to most. I want to respect people like she does. I want to care about my family like she does. I want to give advice like she does. I want to give to others like she does.

I think I speak for all my siblings when I say that I don't know what we'd do without her. We'd be lost in this world trying to figure out how to make a dermatologist appointment by ourselves. We don't know how insurance works, or how to pay our bills half the time, or what to put on certain applications. We're so glad that she is who she is.

I am who I am because of the way my mom and dad raised me. Sorry I'm not just like you, but thanks for raising me to know that it's OK.