With the celebration of Mother’s Day this past weekend, you flocked to the stores to get your mom the fresh flowers in her favorite color or the Hallmark original card that seemed to grasp your relationship with her in beautiful prose, or picked up a gift card to her go-to nail salon. No matter the purchase made, big or small, it was your way of showing your mom that you love and appreciate her.

It is truly great that there is one day out of the year set aside to pay particular attention to all the mothers out there, but this one day is incapable of displaying the amount of affection and gratification that children should show their mothers. Children should make a concentrated effort to express their love for their mothers each and every day. It is true that this day may stand out among the rest, but the days leading up to and the days following shouldn’t be without adoration in some capacity.

A mother give so much of their life to make yours better, and for that, you are forever in her debt.

A mother’s love is unlike anything you will ever experience. There are a plethora of words that have tried to describe this love, including but not limited to unconditional, unwavering, unending, and uncommon, yet even these words don’t quite do it.

Perhaps there are no words that can fully encapsulate the love that your mother gives to you, but her actions sure do a good job of speaking for themselves.

She has spent hours driving you to practices and picking you up after, helping you with homework, taking you shopping, and you can’t overlook the financial sacrifices she has made to enable you to participate in the sport you love or take art classes at the most prestigious association around.

Although moms are an authoritative figure in our lives, they too assume the role of friend. They are there to hear the scoop on the latest gossip, or wipe the tears away when a boy or girl breaks your heart, help you get dressed for your school dances, and they never fail to be by your side during your triumphs, either big or small.

Simply put, she has been there whenever you needed her, and though you appreciate her for it, you often fail to remind her just how great she is and how thankful you are to have her as your mom.

Your mom is also your voice of reason; the voice that takes precedence over all others. Hers is the voice you want to hear when you’re having difficulties making decisions. She is also the voice you want to hear on the other end of the phone when you’ve got a question you know she has an answer to.

She is the one you call when you’re away at college and don’t know what settings the washer should go on, or the one you call when you need directions on how to cook rice, or when you need details of medical history to fill in on an application.

Face it; you consult your mom for everything because she somehow, to your amazement, seems to know it all.

As you progress through your pubescent years, grow into a young adult, and eventually assume adult responsibilities, you’ll realize that through the countless tiffs that you and your mom had, you wouldn’t have wanted to grow up any other way.

One day you’ll be able to see why she made you stay in on a school night instead of allowing you to go to a concert with all your friends. One day you’ll see why she grounded you for getting a poor grade on a test. One day you’ll see why she placed soap on your mouth for cussing at your brother. One day you’ll laugh at the fact that you got so upset for the little things she did that bothered you.

And then one day you’ll kiss her on the cheek and thank her for all of it. One day you’ll wake up and realize that it all meant something. One day you’ll appreciate all of the times you thought she was holding you back, because you’ll realize that she truly had your best interest in mind. One day you’ll accept that you are who you are because of all those times you didn’t get your way, and you’ll love it. And one day when you have a family of your own, you’ll make the same decisions regarding your kids that she made and they’ll dislike you for it for a while, but then one day they’ll come full circle, kiss you on the cheek and say thank you too.

Don’t wait for that one day; tell her every day for the rest of your life how much she means to you and how much you care. Realize here and now that your mother is unlike any person that will ever come to love you and adore her for it.