Mothering creates a life.
Being a mother is a hard job. As is true with a good bit of life, some of the most challenging parts are also the most rewarding. Like the joy of watching someone take their first step and all the other firsts that follow, to the heart break when your teenager looks at you that first time like you have grown horns and are the most hideous thing on earth and then finally fear and pride when they walk out the door to make their way in the world ( my most painful mothering moment…the letting go).
What stands out for me today in this mothering journey, what speaks to me, the mother of 23 year old Narayan , 16 year old Rabia and 12 year old Sophie is how this job asks you to constantly adapt. If you have more than one child you have to adapt to what each these developing people needs from you as a mother. The same is true for different age ranges and boys and girls. Walking through your days making the shift between caring for a baby, meeting the needs of a young adolescent and a preteen son or a teenage daughter. That is a lot of gear changing.
As our children grow, we grow, it is inevitable. Our roles change in their lives and again we adapt. See, it so… just all over this job. I think the the whole pregnancy giving birth thing is a really big tip off to what is coming down the pike.
Anyway I am sitting here realizing that being a mom to these three wonderful people has given me the most well rounded experience based education. Nothing could have prepared me better for what I am doing now than my job as a mom.
Where else are you going to find better training in one package for; time management,( baking cupcakes for 30 kids that you just found out about while helping one through a homework crisis and feeding the baby) ,schedule organization, juggling, coercing, throwing a baseball, mediating (nothing tops refereeing two teenage girls), creating problem solving, applying make-up, listening, not being listened to, patience, mind reading and adapting, constantly being open to what is new and different in front of you. All of this, every moment, this is one day.
Oh and I almost forgot and it is an important part to remember that all this happens while you are sleep deprived. I have always wondered if maybe the sleep deprivation helped a bit here. Maybe it is important not to be fully conscious through some of this.
All of it, every last bit involves adapting to the circumstance presented to you in that moment in a manner that serves everyone as best as possible including yourself.
I like who I am as a mother and who I have become because of being a mother.
I really, really like the three people I have been blessed with mothering.
Sophie and Narayan and Rabia thank you for making me a mother.
I love you beyond measure.
Happy Mother’s Day !!
