Britney Spears shares sweet tribute to her sons for their birthdays

There’s no doubt about it, Britney Spears loves her sons to the moon and back. In her latest Instagram post, she celebrates both of her sons, Preston and Jayden, in honor of their birthdays this month. It’s rare that she talks about her kids (for myriad reasons), but when she does, well, it’s incredibly sweet.

“My boys’ birthdays were last week … and unfortunately they are growing up and want to do their own things …. I have to ask their permission to post them because they are extremely independent little men ♀️ !!!”

She writes about her sons in the caption of a photo that reads, “There is nothing stronger than the love between a mother and son.”

Spears, who shares both sons with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, says she marked their birthdays with a small party complete with ice cream cake. And then she perfectly described how we all feel as we watch our children grow up before our eyes and how bittersweet it all really is.

“It makes me crazy because they are so tall and geez they are still growing !!! They went to a dance last week and I cried for two days my babies in a suit !!! It’s crazy !!! ”

Spears has always respected her children’s privacy, and now that they’re teenagers she’s still very aware that they should have a choice in how and when they appear on social media. She explains that she loves this about them, but that she basically still wants to tell the world how handsome and talented they are—because she’s a mom, so of course she does!

She ends her post with a note to them directly: “And if they’re reading this … which I’m pretty sure they’re not … I love you two little devils so much ❤️ !!!”

Something tells me they’ll find a way to read it, but if they don’t—they already know how much their mom loves them, and always has.