Just as there are stages of child development, there are stages of development in every child’s appreciation of their mother.

There is the macaroni necklace stage, when children string together the master craft that is perhaps the most prized possession their mothers will ever receive. Even if it doesn’t last, something in that dangling, disheveled jewelry confers a status no diamond ever could equal, the recognition around her neck that she’s not just an overworked cook, cleaner and nag, but she is loved.

The stages wind slowly at first, through the potted bulb year and the paper-plate portrait phase, each birthday and Mother’s Day card marked by increasingly legible scrawl offering sweet words like “best mom in the world.”

And to all the best mom’s in the world, we wish a happy Mother’s Day.