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I wasn't sure I was going to write about Mother's Day. It seemed every mother-blogger in the world wrote about it; what more could I say?

Then I read this (at Cranky Mama) and this (at Murphy’s Law). And in a bit of a non sequitur, I thought of a little girl in Hamlet's preschool class. She hasn't heard from her mother in many months--since that mother moved out of state.

I don't know much about her situation, other than that the girl's parents have been separated long enough for her father to get remarried to her stepmother, a wonderful woman who treats this sweet little girl no differently than she treats her own baby. So it wasn't as if the girl was all alone.

Still, I wondered: when does it get so bad that you leave your baby?

Maybe she never wanted to be a mother. Or she thought she did, but reality wasn't what she expected. Maybe she thought her daughter would be better off without her. That this other woman was doing such a good job that she wasn't needed anymore.

Goodness knows I can sympathize with feeling like everyone else in the world can do a better job than you can. But I always come back to one thing: the fact that Hamlet still needs me, even if it is only for my approval if not my snuggles.that he would miss me, to a much greater extent than I'd realize, if I took off on him. And so I stay, and I remind myself that if I were really doing such a terrible job, he wouldn't seek my approval--or anything else from me--at all.

Stacey at Murphy's Law pointed out that it is important to be honest, not to be "in" with proclaiming our terribleness, but to show each other we're not alone. I tend to err on her side, because ultimately, the sense of aloneness is what drives us to want to isolate others--even our own children.

My thoughts on Mother's Day strayed quite a bit to Hamlet's classmate. I hope that her mother will soon find it in herself to reconnect with her daughter.