Been there, done that, got the stretch marks

I keep going back to the idea that somehow I am less of a mother because I only have one kid. I wonder if anybody ever said that to the mothers of the four presidents who are only children? (Well, OK - all of them had half-siblings, but let's not get picky about it.)

It's like people who make a point of saying "this is so and so's adopted daughter." Isn't that a little insulting? If she adopted the child, it's her child. She is still a mother. She still kisses boo-boos and changes diapers and runs carpools and all the other things that make a mom a mom.

At the end of the day (or at least, by the time the kid's in his 30s), if you managed to teach him right from wrong, and how to hope and dream and dare, and that all people deserve to be loved, and generally how to be self-sufficient - you are a mother to someone, and you've done your job.