a late Mother's Day present

This year for Mother's Day I got sweet cards from both the girls, another card that Esther made at school, and a very special flower with lots of petals, on each of which she had written something she loves about me.  

Tonight, I got one more gift, though it wasn't intended as a Mother's Day present, or in fact as a present at all.

Tonight was our monthly foster-adoptive parent support group meeting.  We adults have a good meal and an interesting training, while our kids are cared for in another building.  One of the projects the kids did tonight was to make tags for stuffed animals to give their moms.  Each tag reads, "We love our foster moms!"  So in the car on the way home one of the girls asked what the card said, and the following discussion ensued:

Esther:  But you're not my foster mom.

Me:  That's true, I'm just Princess and Little Guy's foster mom.

Princess:  You're not my foster mom.

Me:  Oh, I'm not?  What am I then?

Princess:  Just a mom.

Thank you, Princess, for letting me know that I am succeeding in being who I hoped to be.  I wasn't your mom before, and I won't be your mom forever, but it is an honor to be your mom (not your only mom, of course, but your heart is big enough for more than one of us!) for now.