Being a mama is nothing like you thought it would be like when you were younger. At least that's what I've come to experience.
When I was younger, becoming a mother was just having (without knowing exactly HOW) a sweet little cute baby to love on and feed and show the world to.
Swearing up and down that you would make sure that baby would have everything he or she (I always wanted a he) wanted and you wouldn't treat he or she anything like your parents treated you.
Also, you couldn't really picture how the daddy fit into the bill unless it came to him just paying the bills while you stayed at home and cooed over the little bundle of joy.
You'd want to babysit everyone's babies and hold every baby you saw no matter where you were. Even the screaming crying ones. You didn't know exactly why they were crying or screaming, but you thought that if you could just hold it that it would make the baby stop crying or that you knew the solution... totally ignoring the actual mother of the crying baby.
Sometimes you even thought you knew better than the mother of the babies you saw, simply because you knew absolutely NOTHING at all.
You felt that you already knew exactly what love was.
You felt that you already knew exactly what love was.
Being a mama is definitely different than what I thought it was going to be. But honestly, it is way more than anything I thought it would be and not in a bad way.
I am the mother of one and one on the way. My son (the boy I always wanted to have) is almost two. He's a grown toddler and has a mind of a grown man. We have another boy on the way.
When I had my first, I was so excited! I thought I knew absolutely everything there was about having a baby. Mostly, because of my views of having a baby when I was younger. And plus, I read all the books!
I decided before I had him I was going to be the best. mom. ever.
Well, my feelings totally changed when I saw his big blue eyes looking up at me. I became scared and felt inadequate to be his mom, mother, mama, caretaker. How in the world could I possibly do this??
Then a comfort came over me... my instincts took over. I became a mom. A mother. A mama. A caretaker.
I now strive to be at least half the mom that my mom was and is.
I respect my husband for the daddy he is to our son and all of the responsibilities that he takes on for us to keep going. He does more than just "pay the bills", ya know.
I now do not offer to babysit anyone else's child, unless paid to do so. And holding someone else's baby has become a big no no, unless I have washed my hands and I'm not sick. Mostly, because I'd want people to do the same for my child.
I do not offer any mothering advice unless someone asks me for it... mostly, because every child and every mother is different. Also, every situation is different. Just holding the baby doesn't stop he or she from crying. There's feeding, burping, diaper changing, wrong play toy, boredom, etc. And only sometimes the wanting to be held.
I now know that being responsible for a child for an hour or two doesn't ever compare to being responsible for a child 24/7.
The word L-O-V-E comes in so many shapes and forms. There's the love for family and friends. Your significant other. And then there's the love you have for you children. I thought that they were all the same. No! I can't say that I didn't know what love was in a way, because God is love. But I can say that I didn't know that love could be so different at so many levels. And until you have a child, you will not know love on that certain level. Watching apart of your heart walk around, running into walls and bumping his head on tables and anything at his level, falling off of couches/beds/chairs, putting things in his mouth and putting his fingers in power sockets, standing in ant beds until he's covered in hundreds of ants biting at him, throwing up anything he puts in his mouth because of the virus he caught (and that you will catch too)... I could go on forever.
If you think that you know everything there is to know about being a mama, then think again. Even if you've had eighteen kids. It's all a live and learn experience.
So I challenge you this Mother's Day:
be thankful for your mother, husband, and children.
You are living and you are learning, so be thankful for yourself. You are loved, adored, and your kids know what love is through you. And you are doing a good job, Mama! Don't give up.
When I had my first, I was so excited! I thought I knew absolutely everything there was about having a baby. Mostly, because of my views of having a baby when I was younger. And plus, I read all the books!
I decided before I had him I was going to be the best. mom. ever.
Well, my feelings totally changed when I saw his big blue eyes looking up at me. I became scared and felt inadequate to be his mom, mother, mama, caretaker. How in the world could I possibly do this??
Then a comfort came over me... my instincts took over. I became a mom. A mother. A mama. A caretaker.
I now strive to be at least half the mom that my mom was and is.
I respect my husband for the daddy he is to our son and all of the responsibilities that he takes on for us to keep going. He does more than just "pay the bills", ya know.
I now do not offer to babysit anyone else's child, unless paid to do so. And holding someone else's baby has become a big no no, unless I have washed my hands and I'm not sick. Mostly, because I'd want people to do the same for my child.
I do not offer any mothering advice unless someone asks me for it... mostly, because every child and every mother is different. Also, every situation is different. Just holding the baby doesn't stop he or she from crying. There's feeding, burping, diaper changing, wrong play toy, boredom, etc. And only sometimes the wanting to be held.
I now know that being responsible for a child for an hour or two doesn't ever compare to being responsible for a child 24/7.
The word L-O-V-E comes in so many shapes and forms. There's the love for family and friends. Your significant other. And then there's the love you have for you children. I thought that they were all the same. No! I can't say that I didn't know what love was in a way, because God is love. But I can say that I didn't know that love could be so different at so many levels. And until you have a child, you will not know love on that certain level. Watching apart of your heart walk around, running into walls and bumping his head on tables and anything at his level, falling off of couches/beds/chairs, putting things in his mouth and putting his fingers in power sockets, standing in ant beds until he's covered in hundreds of ants biting at him, throwing up anything he puts in his mouth because of the virus he caught (and that you will catch too)... I could go on forever.
If you think that you know everything there is to know about being a mama, then think again. Even if you've had eighteen kids. It's all a live and learn experience.
So I challenge you this Mother's Day:
be thankful for your mother, husband, and children.
You are living and you are learning, so be thankful for yourself. You are loved, adored, and your kids know what love is through you. And you are doing a good job, Mama! Don't give up.
No comments:
Post a Comment