Good Mom, or Best Mom Ever?

#2 Mom, but #1 this.

When I was little, I thought my mom was the best mom in the world. She loved me and took care of me and was clearly the Best Mom Ever. Then the world got a little bigger and slivers of doubt began to creep in. Sure, my mom was wonderful, but my friends had Rice Krispie treats in their lunch, and Rice Krispie treats are awesome. Wouldn't the Best Mom Ever provide you with Rice Krispie treats? Then I learned that bed times had worldwide variation, and even variation within my own community. Wouldn't the Best Mom Ever let you stay up late? Maybe let you watch more TV? More things to ponder.
Of course I grew into being a teen and even though I loved my mom, she was clearly not the Best Mom Ever. The Best Mom Ever would understand better. She would buy me cooler clothes. She would let me stay up even later because I was the only one in the whole school who wasn't staying up to watch the cool TV shows. I had a mom who loved me, and I loved her, but come on, Best Mom Ever? Not hardly.
College, work, that time when you're not parented but not a parent yet yourself and you don't give things like Best Mom Ever much thought. She's there when you need her, but if she's done her job well, and my mom did, you just don't need her very much. You're successful and independent and you don't have problems that require a mom. You can handle the world, thanks in part, to someone who you realize in the back of your head might be climbing the ranks back toward Best Mom Ever.
Then the world changes, because you when you become a dad, there is a new mom in your life. Not your mom, but the mother of your children. Sorry mom, but this beautiful wonderful lady who just spent nine months making my baby, she's the Best Mom Ever. She loves my babies and takes care of them. She doesn't put Rice Krispie treats in their lunch (very often) because those kids end up with a head full of cavities and the Best Mom Ever knows that. She puts them to bed early so they can get their sleep and go to school rested, and so that she can spend time talking to me. She doesn't let them watch too much TV. She makes sure they know that it's not the clothes that make the person, but the person that makes the clothes. She tries very hard to understand the things that are happening now, even though she's slightly terrified of the upcoming teen years. My wife is clearly the Best Mom Ever.

Sorry mom, you're not the Best Mom Ever, but you are #2 on the list.