You're not my Real Mom

"You're not my real mom..." So common a phrase for a certain group of people: adoptive moms and stepmoms. The later hears it more often than the former, as we are often dealing with a jealous biological mother. I find this statement so interesting and manipulative. Manipulative either on the side of the BM who is trying to make herself feel better, or the child who is confused and/or upset at the new woman in her fathers life.

But really thinking about this statement has made me wonder... What is a "real mom?" If you look up the definition of mom in the dictionary it states: moth·er [noun] - A woman who conceives, gives birth to, or raises and nurtures a child.

So that sums it up huh? Great!

I like a Urban Dictionary user's definition of a mother:
"The woman who loves you unconditionally from birth, the one who puts her kids before herself and the one who you can always count on above everyone else."

Of course, there is no definition or group of words that could truly define what it means to be a mother, but those of us who are know what it means without words. A mother is the sum of all of the experiences in life between a parent and a child that show unconditional love and devotion.