As Mothers, we are all in different stages of our journey. Some, have adult children and are realizing that finally being able to sleep in again would gladly be exchanged for just one more day having their babies back in their nest as tiny ones who need them. Some Moms are in the throws of the teenage years contending with the drama and the life choices and they feel pain letting their child choose a path they wouldn't have chose and are trying to cope. Some Moms are in the elementary stage and they're busy. There's homework and soccer practice and PTA meetings and volunteering at school and you want to fit in and keep up and still be the best you can be but you're tired. Some Moms, and I am this Mom, are in the throws of toddlerhood contending with attitudes and tempers and a testing of authority all while holding a baby on the hip who wants to rip your earrings out and is crying for attention. And some Moms are waiting. They're ready to get the parenthood process going but their young one hasn't arrived. Their hearts may be hopeful and the days of waiting may be long, but their blessing is coming and so are each of the aforementioned stages.
And no matter what our stage, we're all connected. We're all laced together by our houses always littered with clutter no matter how hard we try to keep it clean, our kitchens that seem to reproduce a dirty dish at a rapid rate, our fight to lose baby weight or be a little healthier, our want to have friends who understand, our days we feel inadequate... we are all the same.
Before I was a Mom, I thought I'd be so different. I thought I'd maintain a clean home, my children would have a 30 minute TV limit, my dinners would always be delicious and extravagant and ready for Josh when he got home. I couldn't understand why you'd put a kid on a leash. I couldn't image being so tired you'd fall asleep once a week at 9. I couldn't imagine kids effecting a marriage or anything hard. It seemed so easy even though I still knew it would be hard. And then kids came and for nearly two years I've eaten my fair share of humble pie. I now attempt to withhold all judgement from my fellow Moms because we're all in this same ship where we steer through storms and calm waters alike and hope that when we find land and our children are grown we will have steered correctly and they will be great. And we're all just trying so hard every day to do the very best we can do to keep our kids safe, healthy, and happy.
Being a Mom has been an extraordinary treasure and gift. And as I mentioned, it has been so very humbling. There is no quicker way to unravel and expose all of your flaws, fears, selfishness, and pride than to Mother a child. Each day you are stretched and broken and through it all you smile not because you have to, but because you want to. Because even though this is the hardest job you'll ever have, it is the best job you will ever have and you are so very grateful and you feel so blessed.
I truly believe we all feel this way as Moms. I believe we all share this bond together of knowing; knowing each other's battles at each stage and having compassion for the hardships and joy over the triumphs because we've been there and we know it always gets better when it's bad and the good moments get even better too.
So I'm thankful for today; this day we celebrate Motherhood. I'm thankful, not only for the sleeping in and the break from diaper changes and the flowers and the beautiful mug from Anthropologie, but also for the reminder of who I am as a Mother and how blessed I am to be living this role. I'm reminded of how grateful I am for my beautiful sons who I sometimes feel completely inadequate to Mother as much as they deserve to be Mothered and also so blessed to love and call my own. I'm thankful for my husband who lifts me up daily when I feel weak or inadequate and who celebrates our children with me and who doesn't mind a house that looks like a toy bomb exploded in. I'm thankful for my village; for family -- especially my own Mom -- and friends who support me and who love on my children and pray for them and are a blessing to us all through being in our lives. And I'm thankful for the bond we all share as Mothers. The Mommy Wars are ever prevalent within society between the working Moms and the SAHMs or those who co-sleep and those who let babies cry it out or those who do homeschool and those who do public school or those who... there's always a war. But deep down inside no matter how we believe about the little things, we're all connected by this bond of Motherhood and the fact that some little person loves us, depends on us, and needs us and we love them, need them, and fight for them daily with all the ferociousness we have. In that, we are all the same.
Happy Mother's day, my friends!
(All images today taken through Instagram and are images of my own Mother's Day.)
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