Oklahoma City family fun wouldn't be the same without mom. 

Mom is often the person who does it all: the keeper of schedules, coordinator of all things family. Logistics fall to her more often than not and some days are better than others.  

There are family dinners to cook, bathrooms to clean, floors to mop, homework to worry over, after-school activities and doctor's appointments, summer camps.

So much does, in fact, fall to us.

Sometimes, we're not our kids' favorite parent. Sometimes, we cry and we curse. 

We all have the same 24 hours but women somehow have a way of making them 25, eight days a week. There are no days off for moms. 

I know a lot of women who would cheerily jump up and say they don't need any days off, that each is a joy and a pleasure and there is happiness enough in doing all that they do. They find satisfaction at the bottom of an empty laundry basket or feel it in a child's hug. 

I hear the debates between moms who work outside the home and those that don't; what I see, though, is that neither is sitting still. All of this is hard work, whether you're at a desk or in the carpool lane, that's not inertia and we're all driving back home to the laundry, the kids, homework, dinner.

You're moving forward and everyone follows you, like so many baby ducks. 

Nothing is as easy as it seems from the outside looking in. It is all a tremendous effort, constant and real. 

MetroFamily's annual Awesome Mom contest collects some incredible nominations. The nominees are women who stand out in ways their children, husbands, family members or friends have noticed. We'll announce the winners this coming month but I want to confirm what you already know: no mother's effort is unnoticed. That dedication shines, even if you think it doesn't.

Mother's Day is a chance to recognize that you are doing the best you can and it is enough. Let others honor you. Honor your mom.  For all the meals she's cooked and the ones she's missed. Make a brunch reservation. Not because someone else won't but because you will. Honor yourself. Choose the restaurant. Pre-order your dessert. You deserve that. 

Click here for a list of the best places for brunch in OKC, as suggested by our readers.

Take charge of your own happiness; you've done it for everyone else. If there are cards and flowers, great. If not, you know there will be brunch. 

Happy Mother's Day!