In honor of Mother’s day on Sunday, USA Today has new quotes from some celebrity moms on how being a mother has changed their lives. I have a three and a half year old son, and some of these quotes really made me nod and others got me a little choked up. There is nothing that I’ve experienced in life that has changed me more than being a mother. I especially related to what Kate Hudson said about how you have to be careful how you influence your children because they’re so observant. Maybe it’s because we both have sons around the same age, but her thoughts really rang true to me. Most everyone said that being a mother has influenced them to try and be a better person.

Kate Hudson says Ryder, 4, has made her slow down and appreciate more

“I’m very impatient. I like to get things done. I move fast. Patience has been something he’s teaching me. Your children teach you so much. It’s a real mirror of yourself. You recognize the things you do directly affect your children. It hopefully allows you to be more conscious of them and yourself and your actions. When you have kids, it goes so fast. I felt like I was pregnant last weekend, but he’s 4 and he’s talking and he’s gathering his ideas and learning who he is. It’s so easy to step in and fix things and make everything right, but you have to let him figure things out on his own. That’s one of my favorite things to do, to watch how they treat other kids and how they observe other people. Your life becomes about your children. I wake up every morning and I hear his voice, and that’s my favorite thing in the world. There’s nothing like it.”

[From USA Today]

Helen Hunt says her daughter Melenka, 3, inspires her to be calm and relaxed

“It gives me real motivation to try and be the person I want to be. You tell them to be patient. But they’ll do what you do and not what to say. If I want her to be relaxed, I have to be relaxed. Or at least try as hard as I can to seem relaxed. If I want her to be patient, I have to be patient. If I want her to be kind, I have to be kind. I have a deep wish for her to be happy and serene, and it makes me want to do everything I can to be happy and serene.”

Thandie Newton says her daughters Ripley, 7, and Nico, 3, inspire her to be a better person

“I’ve learned the value of stripping it down to the basics: love, respect, compassion, stillness, to be interested, to be able to absorb the moment. I remember the first time Ripley saw her shadow. My god. It was like shadows had just been invented. It was the most exquisite moment. And it was just dish to me. To actively attempt to be a good mother is basically attempting to be a good person. I never look at my kids and feel that they’re mine. I am their caretaker. They own the joint. It’s a privilege to be able to take care of them. With my first daughter, I remember waking up and thinking, ‘My god, I get to be her mum again today. Wow. It’s amazing.’ They just take my breath away. All I do is serve themselves back to themselves. My job is just to provide a secure environment where they can just be themselves. It’s the cycle that keeps going forward. You give to them, so they can give to their kids. You have to be delighted by that.”

Salma Hayek on how Valentina, 7 months, brought out a pure kind of love in her

“You learn so much. Listen to her. She’s in the background. Do you hear that strange noise she makes (like a purr, or a rolled r)? It’s the French in her. It’s hilarious. What I learned as a mother is that I have a strong love for things. But the quality of your love gets jaded over the years as you get beat up. What motherhood did to me, when she was born, the amount of love that started pouring out of me was completely pure. Anything anyone ever did to me was erased by this energy. I relearned how to love everything around me, too. My baby is the best thing that has happened to me in my life. It’s the most amazing thing.”

Kate Hudson and Ryder are shown out on 3/22/08 in Miami, thanks to Splash News.