While we normally head to the shore for Mother's Day, some family obligations and baseball season have put this year's trip on hold, and for the first time in a few years, we will be at home for mom's big day.

My kids will come home with adorable little craft projects, and sneakily hide them in the bottom of their book bags until Sunday morning. Except for E. She will be absolutely unable to contain her excitement at sharing whatever present she's made and will drop so many hints that by about 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon, I will know exactly what I'm getting.I love these little items and wish I could pack them away in pristine condition forever, but the first year I tried that, the kids kept asking when I was going to make myself that cup of tea. (That year, they brought home little cards shaped like teapots with a tea bag for me to enjoy!) Since then, I try to keep them on display or actually use them as much as I can.Without getting overly sentimental, being a mom is hands down the best thing that's ever happened to me. Sure, there have been days when I've considered leaving them on a street corner or duct taping them to a wall. What mom, or dad, hasn't felt that way? I think we've been in a pretty sweet spot for most of the past year or two, though. The kids haven't quite acquired the mouthy, pouty attitude that comes with the teenage years, but with the days of potty training and terrible toddler years behind us, the kids are, for the most part, relatively enjoyable.They've been in the world long enough to have their own opinions and their personalities are definitely their own, but they're still unsure enough about the world around them that on occasions, one notable one being the fifth-grade field trip, I still find a sticky, not-so-little, hand reaching for mine when we cross a busy street.These moments are coming fewer and farther between, but I'm holding on to every one of them as tightly as I can.Being a parent means that I can kiss all hope of ever being perfect goodbye. The mistakes happen frequently. I really dropped the ball in a big way this past week, and through the help and grace of some other moms, who have probably been there, too, managed to pull everything together at the last minute. I will beat myself up for a while over that one.I try really hard to make my kids responsible for themselves 98 percent of the time, but the 2 percent of the time that I do things for them, I want to make sure I give 110 percent, and that didn't happen in this case.At that same time all that was happening, I also managed to eat a fresh blueberry muffin for breakfast while wearing a white T-shirt, and I didn't get any blueberry juice on me. So, that's one for the win column.Being a parent means dividing yourself into a million little pieces, and frequently feeling like even though everyone seems to have a piece of you, no one has enough of you.Having three kids with different interests, different levels of school work, different hobbies and different commitments means that no one is ever on the same page. A's health issues usually make him the priority, as the Wonderful Husband and I always try to have one of us with him at all times, just in case.Recently, we had a situation where the WH was at an event with A, and I had to take E to get her dance pictures. What I thought would be a quick process turned into over an hourlong event, and we all ended up missing G's baseball game entirely.Murphy's Law dictates that he plays better when I'm not watching, but that usually means I am working in the concession stand, or just happened to look away for a moment, not missing the entire game. I know he'll get over it; in fact, he stared at me blankly when I yet again apologized for not being there, so he may have already forgotten, but I won't.At the end of the day, whether it's Mother's Day, or any other day of the year, I just have to do my best, and hope that ultimately, my kids turn out to be decent humans who can be tolerated by the rest of the world. If I'm really lucky, hopefully, someday, they'll make a positive difference in someone else's life.I am glad that they get to see me fail, and glad that they have to learn to suffer a little disappointment because of it. Sometimes, I even take that last piece of cake, or that piece of chocolate, because they need to learn that they're not entitled to anything, and the rest of the world isn't always going to sacrifice itself for them. And, also, sometimes Mom just really needs some cake!And, there are other times, like Mother's Day, when we will all share that last piece of cake and enjoy it together. To all the moms, and those who fill the role of mom, out there, give yourself a break today, and enjoy some cake with your favorite people!Liz Pinkey is a contributing writer to the Times News. Her column appears weekly in our Saturday feature section.