Being a mom is a special job, and not an easy one. Ann Van De Water, a 55-year-old author and Western New Yorker, thrived in this role — she and husband Wesley raised three sons — and has found a way to creatively capture the joys, difficulties and humor of motherhood in a new book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Commencement: The Heartbreak, Hope and Hilarity of Being a Mom.

“What I got from being a mom was pure pleasure,” Van De Water says. “It is such a privilege.”

She explains that her book isn’t just a how-to guide on parenting; it’s about relating to other mothers and sharing stories that almost everyone can understand — parent or not.

“Things happen with kids, and my stories try to capture that,” Van De Water explains. “Hopefully, pretty much any women will be able to relate to a lot of them. But every mom has her story to tell, and when you look at it in retrospect, some of them can be pretty funny.”

Humor is certainly a key element of the 80-plus anecdotes Van De Water has included in the book. And while the stay-at-home mom’s descriptions of her sons’ childhood stunts are often hilarious, the text is also moving, and even heartbreaking, as she shares the story of her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

But no matter what the challenge, Van De Water believes every mom can get through it. “The fact is that we moms think we need to have everything put together, and we just don’t give ourselves a break,” she says. “We’re not going to get it all right, and that’s okay.”

So how did this first-time author end up putting her thoughts on the joys of motherhood to paper? Van De Water explains that it was originally a record of stories for her husband and children. “But as I went along they all encouraged me to publish it.”

Born in the Dominican Republic to missionary parents, Van De Water has lived in Costa Rica, done mission work herself in Honduras and Zambia, Africa, and has traveled to Latin America, the Caribbean and parts of Europe.

She married her college sweetheart, and while the couple’s three sons were in elementary and middle school, she choreographed their musicals and accompanied their concerts.

Van De Water sang with the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Sweet Adelines, and also taught Spanish and piano, all while playing and singing in local nursing homes and assisted living centers.

Her unique life led to this unique book, one that reveals her strong faith, and her feelings on the importance of forgiving: “We need to ask for forgiveness when we don’t do the things we should,” she says, “and keep moving on from there.”

And of course, Van De Water says, you’ve got to laugh: “You need to keep a sense of humor in parenting. … Take each day and realize that it’s a gift.”

For more information on A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Commencement: The Heartbreak, Hope and Hilarity of Being a Mom or to purchase a copy, visit annvandewater.com.