HOW many job ads have you come across that read: 'No degree or prior experience required; salary and hours non-negotiable; no paid benefits; certainty of unpaid overtime; guaranteed heartache but a lifetime of indescribable joy?'

Think long and hard about it and you will realise there is only one job that comes close to fitting that description - the simple title of mother.

And if given the chance to apply for the job, without knowing its title, would anyone take this role on?

There is no sugar coating it. Being a mother is bloody hard work. From the moment that beautiful bundle of joy comes into the world screaming, your life is thrown onto a pinpoint and until your final breath you will balance between some form of stability and instability, all wrapped into one.

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with my first daughter. The feeling of inadequacy, that there was no way I was ready to be a mother. And guess what? I wasn't ready. I don't think you are ever ready. I was so far out of my league it wasn't funny.

But it was at this moment I realised I had one expert in my court, my mother. She had been through it all and lived to tell the tale.

My daughter was born with a multitude of medical problems and while my husband was my rock and by my side every minute, there was something reassuring about the knowledge that in the background was my mother, waiting to pick up the pieces.

If you were to poll 100people and ask what the definition of a mother is, you would get 100 different answers.

For me, a mother is always there. Through all her flaws and all her strengths, she is the woman who knows you better than you know yourself. She is there for your first breath and she holds that breath at the front of her heart every day of her life.

So to all the mothers out there, a very happy Mother's Day. To my mum, thank you for choosing to be my mother. Thank you for letting me know it is fine to make mistakes. Thank you for always being there. Thank you for being the thread that has held my life together. Thank you for being my mum.