Dear Mom...

I have never excelled at communicating my feelings when face-to-face with someone I love. There's something about the intimate distance between us, my constant scrutiny of their facial reactions, and my somber delivery that always makes me feel self conscious. I mean the words that I say, but when I'm in that state of vulnerability, presenting my heart to someone that means so much to me, I feel like I never sound right. I can't get my face to do the things that I want it to do, I can't figure out the right amount of eye-contact, I can never get the cadence of my voice to reflect my sincerity. Even though I'm authentic, I feel like I'm doing a piss-poor job of communicating it. As such, I've found that conveying my thoughts in writing is the most efficient. This was the basis for "Dear Mom..."

For this video, I reached out to a few of the best mothers that I knew:

- My mom, mother of 2

- My husband's grandma and great grandma - mothers of 4 and 3, respectively

- My aunt/ second mom, mother of 2

- My cousin, mother of 4 and parenting educator

I asked them to speak candidly about their mothering experience, their highs and their lows, and also give some advice to new parents. In response, I had their children come in and read love letters that they had written. The only prompt I gave them was that it had to start with "Dear Mom..." Like me, they all said things that they had never fully articulated to their mothers, but that they meant with all their hearts. They said all the things that I wanted to say, and then some.

To all the mothers out there, and to all the fathers that have had to do both, today's for you. I wish you happiness, love, patience, and support. We may never articulate how we feel, but know that we respect you, we are here for you, and we love you.

Happy Mother's Day!