I am so proud to say this is my seventh Mother’s Day. I have a hunch there will be breakfast in bed and precious handmade cards involving too much glitter and glue. If I’m lucky, I’ll still be in bed with a warm cup of coffee to watch CBS Sunday Morning uninterrupted. But even if there’s mayhem and children and crumbs in the bed, I’ll cherish every moment and probably cry because motherhood has flipped that inexplicable switch—the one that sharpens emotions the way high-definition television amplifies images. Everything is clearer and closer. (And sometimes hard to watch.)

Of course, motherhood can be messy and loud, and you don’t get to sleep as much, but it really has made me a better person. I’m, at once, more confident than I’ve ever been—yet, as eager as ever to learn. And, as it has been written about with love and laughed at through tears for ages—my heart has opened and bloomed in ways I never could have imagined. I think when you come to realize you are the guiding light for tiny little ships in the night, you aim to shine brighter.

For Mother’s Day, I’d like to celebrate the top 20 ways having children has changed me:

I think less about myself. In a good way.
I think less about others. In a good way.
I go to bed earlier.
I wake up earlier.
I’m more on time.
I’m more organized.
I value my body more.
I cook more.
I dance more.
I read Dr. Suess more.
I dress up less.
I feel more capable.
I smile more.
I laugh more.
I eat more cookies.
I expect more of myself.
I pick flowers in the summer.
I pick pumpkins in the fall.
I make snowballs in the winter.
I splash in rain puddles in the spring.

How has motherhood changed you?