My mom and dad just loved the fact that I fooled around. They just embraced it. They'd always kind of enjoy it, and they liked it when I made them laugh.

Imagine my surprise when, after a lifetime of teaching me to keep personal things to myself, Mom insisted my drawings were the start of a comic strip for millions of people to enjoy.

Mothers send strips to daughters to make a point. Daughters smack strips down on the breakfast table to make a point. My own mom sometimes cuts a strip out and sends it to me to make sure I understand her.

The relationship between Cathy and Mom in the strip is the one relationship drawn from real life that I have proudly never even tried to disguise.

My mom, she is the most unbelievable mom that you could ever have in your entire life and she's always with me on everything. The most I've ever been away from her is two days. I love her more than anybody could ever know.

I want to be a loving mom.

I want to be a mom who listens.

I am proud of my kids, but I also want to make my mom proud of me. I'm still a momma's girl at the heart of the situation.

Sometimes I do envision just being a stay at home mom but not working isn't an option for me currently.

There are days when I struggle with wanting to be a full-time, stay-at-home mom, and feeling guilty about that because I work.