Better than stock options.

Once you’re a mom, traditional rewards disappear. You’re kind of unappreciated. No raises, no bonuses, no “atta girl!” slaps on the backs, no courtside seats or expense account dinners. No A+ report cards, no winning goals, no adoration or congratulations from anyone.

And before you write me off and sniff and say, “My children are reward enough,” I will say to you...give me a break. When you have two toddlers at home and one is barfing and the other is whining and you haven’t showered and the grocery store seems like The Most Impossible Journey Ever, they’re not enough. When you have a adorable little girl in an adorable little dress lying on the floor of a very nice restaurant screaming her brains out because you said she can’t have a third bowl of ice cream, they’re not enough. And when your husband comes home, after they’re fed and bathed and kissed and cuddled and put in bed, and after he has the dinner you lovingly saved for him to eat in your cleaned-up kitchen, and he does pat you on the back and say, “I don’t know how you do it but you do it well” -- THEY’RE. NOT. ENOUGH. Bring on the courtside seats. Bring on the A+. Moms need appreciation. Moms need BLING.

I write, and I feel appreciated. I love hearing that someone likes something I write. I run, and I like meeting or beating a goal. I like the medals at the end.

Yesterday I ran a race and I tried to do well. But I had to get up early, and I ran hard, so I was pooped when I walked through the door.

To this:

And this:

And this:

And suddenly I wasn’t pooped.

And suddenly I didn’t need courtside seats or a good report card.

Suddenly I had all the bling I ever wanted, colored on butcher paper and taped all over the house.

I had my kids.

And they’re more than enough.