Motherhood is Ever-changing
Motherhood is a constant balance of holding on and letting go.
My Facebook memories every day are filled with pictures and videos of my babies and little kids-learning to crawl, toothless grins, baby belly laughs, adventures, first days of school, field trips, birthdays, vacations, funny quotes and stories. And I have loved those days. For the most part, I have really soaked them all up.
But here’s what they don’t tell you as your kids get older…while you will desperately miss their giant hugs with wide open arms, their unexpected side hugs and “Thanks, Mom” responses will move you just as deeply.
While you’ll miss their funny sayings and mispronounced words, having a conversation where your child teaches YOU something new is pretty amazing.
While you will fondly remember the newborn days where you just sat and stared in awe at the beautiful little face that you created and wonder how you ever lived a second without this kind of love, you will find a different kind of wonder and awe in the quickly changing face of your not so little person anymore as you watch them become their own person-and your heart will grow five sizes when you start to see glimpses of the GOOD human that you’ve had a hand in shaping.
Nobody tells you that you will mourn who YOU were as a mother, while learning to embrace each new version of you in motherhood. The mama of babies is a different mom than the mother of toddlers. The preschool mom isn’t really anything like the mom of teenagers. All are equally important-and all are needed as much as the others.
They don’t tell you that you will be better at some stages of motherhood than at others. You will be deeply challenged in some and you will shine in others. You will barely survive some and others you will wish you could just pause time and stay there forever. You will probably like yourself more in some versions of motherhood than others.
There is a lot of advice for moms, but there’s a lot that they don’t tell you.
What they don’t tell you about mothering older kids, is that there is a unique kind of beauty and hope in this stage. It’s pretty incredible when you begin to look up to your baby-literally and figuratively.
No matter what stage you’re in, what version of motherhood you’re experiencing right now-try to embrace it. The good and the bad, the beauty and the challenges. There is nothing on this earth as sacred, as challenging, and as fulfilling as motherhood.
