Mommy Mentors

I know this is a shout out to moms and it is no where near mothers day, but to hell with it we all need some props.

Do you have any mommy mentors??
You know those moms that throw you a line, or a thermos of wine on those days when you are sure you can't do it right, or can't seem to decide what is the best choice for you and yours. These women are not always moms, and not always married, sometimes they are just the friend that tells you to pull my head out and breath, and sometimes it is the message board friend I have never met telling me it will all be ok.
I have these women in my life. I these women save me..
The mom who insisted on taking me out to lunch, out of the hospital, when my first born was in the NICU, the one who came and ate at the hospital with me. The friend who shares her marriage woes no matter how crazy so that I feel less crazy. The mom that told me it was ok to feed my son a bottle when I hadn't slept in three days, and the mom who told me my son reminded her of her oldest who had ADHD.
In the last month or so I have been over-using a lot of my mommy mentors to deal with Thing One and Two and what is the best choices for them. I have been emailing, calling and chattering incessantly trying to figure out what will work best and what to fight for. I realized something in all this, even though the final decision about what to do is mine, all these moms are sharing their personal experiences with me to help make me a better person.
Being a mentor can be tough, sometimes you have to give advice to a friend knowing they may take it and do it, and something won't go the way you expect. Giving advice, having it followed, and it not working can be difficult, for the person giving and receiving. Then I think about all those women who went out on a limb for me. I think about all those women telling me their stories, making their lives open books. They do not dictate or tell me what I should do or how I should do it, they tell their story and give me their action and the reason for it. I adore these women, I may not see or talk to them much and they may only come through my life in snippets, but they are the women I will fell indebted to for life.
Am I a mentor?
I hope so..
I want to be that for some other mom, say the hard thing, listen to the tough story.
I just need to learn to listen more and talk less.