“Children
reinvent your world for you.”
–
Susan Sarandon
Happy Mother’s Day!
This might sound silly, but I had no idea how hard it is to be a
mother until I became one. No one could have prepared me beforehand on how
motherhood can:
Stretch You: Yeah, I
knew about the pregnancy stretch marks, but what I’m talking about is how the
little people in my house make me learn to stretch my patience and energy.
They test me in these areas daily.
Or how they stretch me beyond my comfort zone to do something I
ordinarily would not do, like holding my breath under water during Mom and Me
swim class with Lila so that she would learn how (lame, I know!).
Bring Out
the Worst In You: I never thought I had an anger problem until
I had children! They can take me to the brink of losing my mind from the
incessant “Why?”s, requests and demands they place upon me every day. They argue
over the silliest things, get into things they shouldn’t and make constant
messes. I sometimes react in ways I know I shouldn’t. They make me realize how
selfish I am.
But because they can bring out the worst in me, they inspire me to
change and work on improving those not-so-good areas of my life.
Make You Appreciate
the Little Things: Like taking a daily shower, remembering to
brush my teeth, getting to drink out of my own glass without having to share,
getting uninterrupted sleep, picking what I want to listen to in the car, going
on a date with my husband, and talking on the phone without being interrupted.
Bless You in
Unexpected Ways: I always wanted to have babies to love. I
imagined that it would be so blissful and romantic. There are moments like
that, when my cup runs over from the hugs, kisses and “I love you”s, but most
of the time it’s hard being a Mommy.
But when I look back over the past five and a half years, some of
the moments I cherish most were difficult as I went through them: like nursing
my babies in the middle of the night, cleaning an entire container of yogurt
out of Lila’s hair and high chair when she was 18 months old, and discovering
William’s artwork all over of our furniture and walls over the past six months.
The beautiful mess of my everyday Mommy life blesses me when I
stop to cherish it, instead of wishing it were different. Someday I’ll have a
clean house (maybe), and someday my car won’t be filled with crumbs, fruit
strip wrappers, water bottles and shoes. Someday I’ll get to listen to my own
music while driving instead of Frozen
songs over and over.
But someday will come too soon and I know I’ll miss these years. It
seems like just yesterday that I was the child.
I have this sign hanging in my laundry room: (I tried making the photo larger, but it kept giving me problems. It says, "If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the piles and piles of laundry will disappear all too soon and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly.")
It reminds me of how the messes are many, but the years are short.
So in the here and now, I’m trying to see the blessings in the chaos. I’m
trying to be present and joyful with my children. I’m trying to love motherhood
for what it is—messes, stresses and all!
Happy Mother’s Day!
be present and joyful. nailed it! Thanks for the reminder and honest post. Refreshing!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Happy Mother's Day Andrea! Love your blog.
ReplyDelete